By Leo Gutierez: Riverside has another new professional boxer to keep an eye on; he is a 5’9″ Featherweight with tremendous skills and poise beyond the years of such a young fighter. His name is Daniel Franco and if his name sounds familiar it’s because he is the younger brother of undefeated Riverside prospect Michael “Lil Warrior” Franco 17W-0L (11 KO’s).
“Twitch” as he is known is a young 18 year old who made his professional debut this past Saturday night from Ontario, Ca. against Manuel Machorro 1W-1L of Mexico. “It felt great to finally make my debut, I have been waiting for this day since I was 9 years old. But now I am ready for my next test and I hope to keep learning every time I step inside the ring. My pops and my conditioning coach Jay did a great job getting me ready and I want to thank Ray Alcorta for giving me this opportunity” stated Franco.
“I was impressed, he showed a lot of skills and composure for such a young kid” stated promoter Ray Alcorta. As an amateur Daniel had fewer than 60 amateurs fights but won several tournaments. “I didn’t travel outside the state too much for tournaments, my pops didn’t want me missing school but I have been in the gym for almost ten years. I have been sparring with guys like Anthony Villarreal, Richard Contreras, Mikey Garcia, my brother Mike and many more pro fighters since I was 13 years old. I have to admit it didn’t help me in the amateurs, I wasn’t into gaining points by slapping away, I was always looking to hurt my opponents and I wanted to hear them moan in pain. Now as a pro I think I have an advantage over many of my peers in my division and I am looking to make a statement every fight and learn as well.
In his debut, Franco started off with a piston like jab that he doubled up and then finished off by smashing it into the belly or chest pushing Macharro back on his heels, this was the tone of the entire round. It was a tremendous display of ring generalship and well schooling for such a young man. Round two started off the same but a few right hands began to come into play with a short right to the body that hurt Macharro making him take a few steps back. Amazingly for such a young fighter Franco came in patiently setting up a short overhand right that sent his opponent down.
Referee Jerry Cantu gave an 8 count and let the action resume; again Franco came in behind a jab this time setting up body shots that were accurate and powerful to end the round. In the third Franco came out with a serious look to finish off his still visibly hurt opponent and worked himself inside and started throwing power shots to the body landing with pinpoint accuracy and again Macharro went down. The tuff Mexican once again got up and said he wanted to continue but his corner had seen enough and threw in the towel .53 seconds into the round. Daniel is scheduled to return to the ring on January 29th stated Ray Alcorta.