INQUIRER Sports

The old clown in Drian Francisco was a no-show Saturday night when the newest Philippine boxing sensation stopped Panama?s Ricardo Nuñez in Pasig City.

That was not very surprising, because Francisco had been strictly warned against fooling around or playing it loose in the big bout.

But one dreadful twist continued to baffle those who had witnessed the fight.

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Nuñez, also called El Matematico, landed in the hospital as though he had stepped on a land mine.

Handlers of the vanquished Panamanian were later overheard saying their man failed to detect Francisco?s demolishing left shots.

This must be the reason why Nuñez was caught flailing limbless in suffering two successive knockdowns in the first round.

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Anyway, Nuñez was later cleared by doctors.

But his handlers had obviously wanted to ask a few more questions before leaving.

They continued to wonder how their highly rated fighter ended up looking like a hopeless patsy in that one-sided bout.

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OK, they did not complain, but the way the Panamanian team officials sounded, they must?ve suspected Francisco had concealed something in entering the ring.

Of course, there?s no law against unexpected and extraordinary punches during a legit boxing bout?as long as these shots are not foul.

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?Ricardo was on the attack when he got hit. Drian has an awkward style and Ricardo could not see where the left was coming from,? explained Carlos Costa, a member of the Panamanian team.

Truth is, as the Panamanians themselves would confirm, they had closely studied Francisco.

However, all they could use to dissect the 27-year-old pride of Mindoro and Agoncillo in Batangas was the tape of a previous knockout win against another Panamanian, former world champion Roberto Vasquez.

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In winning that fight, Francisco also ended up being dubbed a Clown Prince of boxing.

Anyway, as he was clearly behind on points against Vasquez, several experts also thought Francisco managed to escape and win only after landing a couple of lucky punches.

Of course, a few divine details had been kept from the naked eye.

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It?s like this: He was perceived and peddled to pack gold in his powerful hands, the reason behind the Gintong Kamao tag.

But the sweet secret finally got bared for the world to see on Saturday night.

It was neither gold nor any precious jewel that defined Francisco.

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As it would turn out, what he has got in his fists were mighty thunderbolts.

He could also explode them from all inconceivable points.

It?s indeed a great Pinoy phenomenon.

But how Drian Francisco does his thing inside the ring is, of course, a secret between him and His Creator.