By Jake Donovan
Ten years ago, the Kissimmee Civic Center played host to its first Boxeo Telemundo telecast, with future super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios scoring a decision win over Angel Chacon in a 12-round war in which the scores didn’t quite match the action that took place.
The bout chosen to headline the 10th anniversary show Friday evening couldn’t have been more different in presentation and result.
Orlando Cruz ended a near-two year hiatus to pick his first win in nearly three years with a shocking first round knockout of previously unbeaten Michael Franco in what will certainly go down as one of the biggest upsets of 2011.
The California-based Franco was travelling cross country for the first time in his promising six-year career, as whispers had begun of the featherweight prospect being ready to enter the contender ranks. His resume suggested otherwise, although what was awaiting him in Florida wasn’t meant to serve as cause for concern.
Cruz hasn’t won a fight since January 2009, back when he himself was a promising featherweight on the rise. Back-to-back knockout losses to Cornelius Locke and Daniel Ponce de Leon was enough to send the Puerto Rican southpaw into hibernation, having not fought since February 2010.
Going 20 months between fights lent cause for concern in regards to Cruz being rusty, with skeptics wondering if he’d show up to win or just for the paycheck.
The answers to both of those questions would come less than three minutes later. Cruz was neither rusty nor on the scene merely as an opponent; his intention was to test the heart of the 24-year old Franco, and see what he was made of.
Not much, as it turned out.
On a night that saw major activity in and around the featherweight division, Cruz made a major statement in rocking Franco’s world. A straight left and follow up right hook found its way to the Californian’s jaw, putting him down and out just before the bell.
The official time was 2:59 of the first round.
Cruz advances to 17-2-1 (8KO) with what is quite possibly the most significant win of his young career. The last time his hand was raised in victory also came against an undefeated featherweight on the rise, scoring a fifth round knockout of Leonilo Miranda back when both were unbeaten.
Franco, who was eyeing a possible title shot against Orlando Salido at some point in 2012, now goes back to square one as he falls to 19-1 (12KO) with the shocking loss.
As far as major upsets go, Cruz couldn’t have picked a better time to resurrect his career.
Less than 10 minutes prior to his knocking out Franco, a significant result took place in Argentina as Celestino Caballero ended a two-fight skid of his own with a revenge-fueled points win over Jonathan Barros, picking up an alphabet belt.
Direct televised competition came in Cruz’ native Puerto Rico, where undefeated prospect Jayson Velez scored a fifth round knockout of Jonathan Arias in a bout that aired on Telemundo simultaneously with his own breakout performance.
Either option would be an interesting choice for Cruz, should he decide that he has enough left to make another run in the featherweight division or if – at age 30 and only now returning to the ring – he decides to take his shot while a little bit of good luck is going his way.
At the time of his performance in the relaunching of Boxeo Telemundo a decade ago, Oscar Larios had already lost three times – twice by knockout – but went on to enjoy a successful reign as a super bantamweight titlist.
While the tempo of the two fights a decade apart couldn’t have differed any greater, there remains hope of better things to come for Cruz regardless of which direction he chooses to take his career beyond Friday evening.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
