Joshua Franco (born October 27, 1995) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the WBA

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council respond ...

title since 2020.

Professional career

Early career

Franco made his professional debut on August 6, 2015, scoring a four-round

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

(SD) victory over Temoatzin Landeros at the Belasco Theater in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He amassed a 14-1 record during the next three years, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage. Franco was scheduled to challenge

Oscar Negrete Oscar Manuel Negrete Padilla (born 18 July 1987) is a Colombian born American boxer. He current NABF Bantamweight champion since June 30, 2017. At his amateur career best result was a gold medal at light-flyweight at the 2010 South American Ga ...

for the WBC- NABF

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

title on October 4, 2018 at The Hangar in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

. The bout was set as the main event of an

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

and

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (whi ...

broadcast card. The fight, in which both men threw over 1000 punches, was ruled a split draw. Each fighter received a 96–94 scorecard from one of the judges, while the third judge scored the fight a 95–95 draw. An immediate rematch between the pair was set, with the WBC-NABF and vacant WBA International bantamweight titles on the line. The rematch was scheduled for April 25, 2019, as the co-main event of a junior welterweight bout between Yves Ulysse Jr. and Steve Claggett, and was broadcast by

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

. Franco won the fight by split decision, with one score of 98-92 for Negrete and 96-94 and 97-93 for Franco. Franco made the first defense of his two secondary title against Oscar Negrete on August 10, 2019. The trilogy bout was scheduled as the co-main event of a welterweight fight between

Vergil Ortiz Jr. Vergil Ortiz Jr. (born March 25, 1998) is an American professional boxer who has held the WBO International welterweight title since 2021. As an amateur, he was a seven-time national champion and was the winner at the 2013 Junior Olympics. He ...

and Antonio Orozco. Franco and Negrete once again fought to a split decision draw, with scores of 96–94, 95–95 and 93–96, the same as in their first meeting. Franco was scheduled to face Jose Alejandro Burgos in a non-title bout on January 11, 2020, on a

broadcast card. Franco moved back down to super flyweight from bantamweight for this bout. He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout.

WBA super flyweight champion

The Moloney trilogy

After compiling a record of 16–1–2 (8 KOs) he challenged WBA (Regular) super flyweight champion,

Andrew Moloney Andrew Moloney is an Australian professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) super-flyweight title in 2020, having previously held the interim title since 2019. At regional level he held the WBA Oceania bantamweight title from 2016 to 2017 an ...

, on June 23, 2020 at the MGM Grand in

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. After a competitive back-and-forth fight in which Franco scored a knockdown in the eleventh round, he defeated Moloney via twelve-round

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(UD) to capture the WBA (Regular) title. Two judges scored the bout 114–113 while the third scored it 115–112, with the eleventh-round knockdown being the deciding factor in Franco's victory; had he not scored the knockdown, Moloney would have retained his title through a

majority draw A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts (MMA), and other sports involving striking. In a majority draw, two of the three judges agree that neither fighter won (i.e. tied scorecards), ...

. According to

CompuBox CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches around the world. Background The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in ...

stats, Franco landed 231 out of 789 (29.3%) punches thrown while Moloney landed 191 out of 663 (28.8%). The pair agreed to fight an immediate rematch on November 14, 2020, at the MGM Grand Conference Center in

, on the undercard of the

Terence Crawford Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO welterweight title since 2018. Previously he held the WBO and ''Ring'' maga ...

and

Kell Brook Ezekiel "Kell" Brook (born 3 May 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2022. He held the IBF welterweight title from 2014 to 2017, and challenged once for a unified middleweight world title in 2016. At regiona ...

welterweight title bout. Referee Russell Mora declared the fight a no contest, after the ringside doctor stopped the fight at the beginning of the third round due to a swelling around Franco's right eye, which resulted from a headbutt according to the referee. Moloney's corner disputed this, which led to a 20 minute instant replay review by the NSAC who confirmed Mora's decision. Due to the controversial nature of their second meeting, a trilogy bout was scheduled for August 14, 2021, which took place at the

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. The title fight was set as the main event of an

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

broadcast card, with most odds-makers having Moloney as the favorite at -240. Franco retained the title by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him a 116–112 scorecard. He outlanded Moloney 168 to 107 in total punches, and 127 to 73 in power punches landed.

Promotion to undisputed champion

On February 9, 2022, the WBA ordered the WBA "Super" champion

Juan Francisco Estrada Juan Francisco Estrada Romero (born April 14, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held ''The Ring'' super flyweight title since 2019. He previously held the WBA (Unified) and WBO flyweight titles b ...

to defend his title against Franco. The pair were given until March 11 to come to terms. As the pair failed to do so, a purse bid was scheduled for April 18, 2022, which was later postponed by 24 hours. The promotional rights were won by

Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Histo ...

, who bid $120,000, with a 75/25 split in favor of Estrada. Although the bout was officially expected to take place on July 16, 2022, it was eventually postponed to August 20. On July 18, Estrada's trainer Alfredo Caballero stated in an interview with Izquierdazo that Estrada would vacate the WBA title in order to pursue a trilogy match with Román González. On August 11, 2022, Estrada officially relinquished the super flyweight "Super" title. Immediately afterwards, Franco was promoted to undisputed status and remained the sanctioning body's sole titleholder at junior bantamweight.

Franco vs. Ioka

On October 11, 2022, it was revealed that Franco has entered into negotiations for a title unification fight with the reigning WBO super flyweight champion

Kazuto Ioka is a Japanese professional boxer. He is the first male Japanese boxer and fourth Asian to be a four-weight world champion, having held the unified WBA and WBC mini-flyweight titles between 2011 and 2012, the WBA (Regular) light-flyweight tit ...

. It was confirmed a month later that the title bout would take place on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

at the

Ota City General Gymnasium Ota City General Gymnasium is an arena in Ōta, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it is often called Ōta City. , the ward has an estimated population of 716,413, with 379,199 households and a populatio ...

in Tokyo, Japan. On November 4, the WBO furthermore ordered the winner of the fight to face the sanctioning body's former

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

champion

Junto Nakatani is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight title from 2020 to 2022, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior-bantamweight title in 2023, ...

in a mandatory title defense no later than 180 days afterwards. The fight ended in a majority decision draw. One judge scored it 115–113 for Franco, while the remaining two judges scored it as a 114–114 draw.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Joshua Living people 1995 births American male boxers Boxers from Texas Sportspeople from San Antonio Super-flyweight boxers Bantamweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World super-flyweight boxing champions