Andrew Cancio's journey to a world title was a long and arduous one, which included being away from the ring for more than a year, but it finally reached its destination.
In the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card from Indio, California, Cancio stopped Alberto Machado in the fourth round to win the WBA "Regular" super featherweight title.
Machado started the fight dropping Cancio and almost stopped him, but Cancio was able to get back up and return fire on the now-former champion. Cancio scored the first of two knockdowns in the fourth round with a well-placed left hand to the body. Machado got up from the knockdown, but did not fully recover and was dropped quickly afterwards, leading to the eventual stoppage later in the round.
While Cancio now holds the WBA "Regular" super featherweight title, Gervonta Davis is the current "Super" champion at 130 pounds. In the post-fight interview, Cancio said he simply went back to his gameplan of working the body after that initial knockdown.
?Body, body, body, and upper cuts. After he dropped me, I relaxed and stuck with the game plan. He was standing up so I started attacking the body. I hit hard and I started to dig, dig and dig,? Cancio said.
The loss was Machado's first career loss as a pro and ended his world title reign which began all the way back in 2017 when he knocked out Jezreel Corrales to win the title. Machado has primarily fought as a super featherweight throughout his pro career, but stated after the fight that he might consider moving up in weight after this defeat.
?I felt weak in there. The rematch would be nice, but I think I have to move up from 130 pounds. We will see,? Machado said.
The 30-year-old Cancio had been working full-time as his boxing career alone would not be enough to support his family. After losing to former world title challenger Joseph Diaz in 2016, Cancio stepped away from the ring for nearly 20 months before coming back in April 2018. Cancio won his next two fights, leading to the biggest night of his boxing career.