Andrew Cancio vowed that Alberto Machado had never faced anyone quite like him … and, boy, was he was right.
A huge underdog, Cancio dropped Machado three times with punishing body shots in the fourth round to pull off a stunning TKO and become the new WBA “regular" super featherweight champion in front of a raucous home crowd at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, Calif., live on DAZN.
"Absolutely unbelievable," a teary-eyed Cancio said in the ring following his upset, almost in awe of his own performance.
"I couldn’t even imagine this," he added seconds later. "I know nobody gave me a chance, but I knocked him out."
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He sure did. Machado looked like he would cruise to victory after he landed a short left uppercut to drop Cancio in the first round, but Cancio had other plans, quickly making the adjustment to stay in Machado’s chest, negating the champion’s long-range jab. It was a wise strategy that Machado just couldn’t figure out.
Cancio rocked Machado in the third round with a strong left hand, with the Puerto Rican world champion’s legs clearly affected by the shot. The 28-year-old had to cover up and survive the round. He wasn’t able to survive the fourth as Cancio turned it on. First, Cancio dropped Machado with a punishing right to the body. Cancio landed the shot and Machado took a second took feel its effects, dropping to a knee before getting up at the nine-count. Seconds later, Cancio charged at Machado, dropping him again, this time with a left uppercut to the body. Somehow, Machado managed to get up again, but Cancio landed several more body shots to cement the scintillating TKO and his first world title.
'El Chango' does it.
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) February 10, 2019
Andrew Cancio stuns @xplosivomachado in front of a raucous hometown crowd and is THE NEW WBA Super Featherweight Champ 🏆 pic.twitter.com/SKMks3ubop
The stunning upset was especially touching for Cancio as the Blythe, Calif., native pulled off the victory in his backyard and with an outpouring of support. The victory is all the more incredible considering that he was working full time at a gas company in Oxnard, Calif., while training for Saturday night's fight. He even punched the clock at the position this week.
Not only did Cancio's rousing win redirect the surging career of the previously undefeated Machado, but it put the new champion right into the thick of a super featherweight division that also counts Gervonta Davis and Tevin Farmer as champions. As far as Saturday night goes, Cancio's upset managed to steal thunder from Davis's first-round KO.
Co-main event: Rey Vargas def. Franklin Manzanilla by unanimous decision (117-108 three times)
After being dropped by a vicious left hook in the second round, Vargas made some adjustments and carved out the spacing to sting and punish Manzanilla the rest of the way en route to retaining his WBC junior featherweight strap by unanimous decision. Manzanilla didn’t help himself much after scoring the knockdown as he was penalized twice for head-butting. Vargas said after the win that he’d like to unify titles in the division.
Main card results
Andrew Cancio def. Alberto Machado via fourth-round TKO to win the WBA "regular" super featherweight title
Rey Vargas def. Franklin Manzanilla by unanimous decision; junior featherweights
Joseph Diaz Jr. def. Charles Huerta via unanimous decision; super featherweights
Adrian Estrella def. Oscar Duarte by split decision; super lightweights
Undercard results
Azat Hovhannisyan def. Lolito Sonsano by fifth-round KO; super bantamweights
Fernando Castaneda and Tureano Johnson fought to a split draw
