Rusty Franco Loses on a Split Decision

Raul Franco’s stalled boxing career was supposed to take a leap forward Thursday night. Instead, the Long Beach welterweight took a huge step backward with a devastating loss to journeyman Miguel Avila, who won an eight-round split decision before a sellout pro-Franco crowd of 1,405 at the Irvine Marriott.

The defeat was Franco’s first in 15 fights and it came against a boxer he beat three years ago in a unanimous four-round decision. Franco had two points taken away by referee Jose Cobian for low blows and they made a difference in the outcome.

David Denkin and David Mendoza gave the fight to Avila, 76-74 and 77-73. Raul Caiz scored it for Franco, 76-74.

“The last one was definitely low,” Franco, 23, said. “I don’t know about the first one.”

Franco did know he lost the fight.

“I was catching him with a lot of body shots,” Franco said. “But what won him the fight was, he kept coming. He kept knocking me off-balance and I couldn’t get my combinations going. I should have stayed outside to box him. But I fought his fight.”

Franco had only two fights in the last year because of injuries and managerial problems. The rust showed. His combinations were not sharp and he started slowing down by the third round. Avila (8-4-3) was the aggressor throughout and he landed the heavier blows.

“He’s a good fighter,” said Avila, who trains in Pomona. “But all his opponents were hand-picked and he wasn’t as strong as me.”

Franco’s undefeated record didn’t get him anywhere with the big-name promoters. So what will a loss do to his resume?

“I think it throws me back on track,” he said. “It makes me realize what I have to do. This year’s been hard. Maybe this will wake me up.”