Many boxers would feel trepidation about hitting the road for the first time as a professional. Leaving the welcoming cheers of their home crowd behind for initial indifference – or hostility – could be intimidating.
Not for Francois Scarboro Jnr. The 29-year-old from the Washington, D.C., suburb of Cheverly, Maryland, will be fighting for the first time as a professional outside of the “DMV” area this Friday, when he faces fellow unbeaten junior lightweight Onyx Sanchez-Medina at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
There isn’t likely to be anyone in attendance for that ProBox TV-promoted show that is familiar with “The Franchise,” but Scarboro sees that as just another opportunity to make new fans.
“If you ask me, I fight better on the road, so I feel like this will be my best performance in my whole career,” said Scarboro, 11-0 (8 KOs).
“I'm a sucker for hearing people's voices when I'm fighting. I can hear my mom and I can hear my aunts and everything like that. And in my head, I'm like, ‘Shut up,’” he adds with a laugh. “When you're on the road, everything's blank. The only person I can hear is my corner.”
Sanchez-Medina, 8-0-1 (8 KOs), of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, will be the fourth undefeated fighter that Scarboro will have fought as a pro. He expects this to be his final eight-round fight in his journey from prospect to hopeful contender. While his opponent will have a three-inch height advantage at 5-foot-11, Scarboro says it’s nothing that he’s not prepared for.
“I know that he’s a Puerto Rican fighter. From all the Puerto Rican fighters that I fought, they're pretty tough. I know that he has all wins by knockout. Obviously that caught my attention, which means that he packs a punch. And I know he's tall. However, he’s not the tallest guy that I've ever fought,” said Scarboro.
Scarboro is no stranger to getting outside of his comfort zone. At age 12, Scarboro came home one day and told his father that he wanted to start boxing.
“Just something to do to get me out of the house,” said Scarboro. “I have all sisters, so of course no boy wants to be in the house.”
Scarboro had more than 70 amateur fights, making it to the semifinals of the 2018 National Golden Gloves.
Scarboro Snr says he remembers the day when he first took his son to the Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Center in Palmer Park, Maryland, to box. Senior says he wasn’t at all surprised that his son took to it so quickly, as he excelled in multiple sports, particularly wrestling and football, before picking up pugilism.
“Nobody can be tougher than him, because there’s no intimidation factor,” said Scarboro Snr. “You're not going to intimidate him. And if anything, you find yourself being surprised because you see a great looking guy with all 32 teeth in his mouth, wel- spoken, don’t drink, don’t curse, don’t smoke.”
Not quite big enough to play football at the college level, Scarboro attended Glenville State University with a boxing scholarship, which allowed him to pursue his degree in business administration. He graduated in 2019 but never left his boxing dreams behind.
“We went up against West Virginia University all the time. We dusted them, I have to add that,” said Scarboro Jnr. His college studies came in handy when he turned pro in 2022 and had to navigate his career from scratch, but he says that time on campus had other benefits in terms of maturity.
“It gave me a chance to get all of the knucklehead stuff out that boxers do nowadays. Like, there’s no point for me to go to clubs and stuff like that because I went to college. There’s no point for me to be out here trying to talk to every girl I see, because I went to college. It gives you a chance to get all that out of your system,” said Scarboro.
“Once I turned professional, I could focus, and I could be 100% all-in, and I feel like that’s what separates me from a lot of people.”
Though the COVID-19 pandemic slowed his career down some, Scarboro has kept a busy pace since turning pro three years ago. Friday’s fight will be his third this year.
Scarboro boxed primarily out of Enigma Boxing Gym in the amateurs, under Gary Russell Snr. He has boxed professionally under the tutelage of Ernesto Rodriguez of Hillcrest Boxing, who has guided two fighters – Jarrett Hurd and Tiara Brown – to world championships. Scarboro has seen the path they’ve traveled and believes he has it in him to do the same.
“There's a blueprint. I see the way these guys train, and I see their mentality. I’ve gotten a chance to see their mentalities and see how they train, and I fit the description. So I’m the perfect candidate for the job,” said Scarboro.
Scarboro concedes that he still has plenty to work on in his boxing career, but believes that only his relative lack of experience is standing between him and being a top contender at junior lightweight.
“I feel like I have every tool right now to challenge the top guys at 130lbs. The only thing that's missing is the experience,” said Scarboro.
“I turned pro in 2022 so the experience, once it gets there, then I’m going to take over. And I know that I’ll take over. I know that I’ll unify. I know I’ll win every belt at 130. This is something that I know, just like I knew I’d go to college and I knew I’d go pro.
“Some people may not believe me, but if you feel that strongly about it, I always tell everybody to bet against me.”
