Pinoy pugs Francisco, Cuello win in Mexico

Two Filipino boxers scored contrasting wins on Mexican soil in separate fights yesterday.

Denver “The Excitement” Cuello bucked an injured shoulder to beat Ivan Meneses of Mexico by unanimous decision at the Auditorio del Bicentenario in Morelia, Michioacan de Ocampo, Mexico.

Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco knocked out Jose Carlos Vargas of Mexico in the first round in a fight held in Sonora, Mexico.

Promoter Aljoe Jaro e-mailed this writer that Cuello knocked down Meneses in the opening round.

But Cuello suffered a sprained shoulder in round three and had trouble throwing punches.

Despite having the handicap of using only his left, Cuello showed his superb boxing skills to eke out a 98-90, 96-92 and 96-92 win.

Cuello, who hails from Iloilo, improved to 32-4-6 (win-loss-draw) with 21 knockouts while Meneses dropped to 18-11-1, 10 KOs.

Denver also goes by the name Cuello-Singwangcha and is one of the top Filipino boxing prospects of Thai Promoter Naris Singwangcha.

Jaro said that they plan to go to China this month for the WBC minimumweight world title fight between Zhao Zhong and Javier Martinez of Mexico.

Cuello, who is ranked number one by the WBC, looks forward to fighting the winner.

Meanwhile, Francisco decked Vargas with a right straight and pummelled the Mexican with body punches dropping him for good.

Promoter Elmer Anuran informed this writer of the fight result. He plans to have his prized boxer stay in the U.S. Anuran said he hopes to have Francisco fight in the undercard of the unification match between Brian Viloria and Hernan Marquez.

The 29-year-old Francisco (23-1-1, 17 KOs) is based in Agoncillo, Batangas. He is a former WBA interim superflyweight champion but is now campaigning in the heavier superbantamweight class.