WBC No. 1 Cruiser Francisco Palacios Appears in Rematch Against WBC Cruiserweight Champ Krzysztof Wlodarczyk In Wroclaw, Poland on Sept. 22
ORLANDO, Fla.—World Boxing Coucil No. 1-ranked cruiserweight Francisco “The Wizard” Palacios will receive his long-awaited rematch against Krzysztof “Diablo” Wlodarczyk when they square off on Sept. 22 in Wroclaw, Poland.
Palacios (21-1, 13 KOs), a proud Puerto Rican puncher who was raised in Bayamon and now lives in Orlando, made his first appearance in a world championship fight against Wlodarczyk (46-2-1, 33 KOs) on April 2, 2011. The fight took place in Wlodarczyk’s native Poland.
A partisan, sold-out crowd of over 7,000 packed into the arena in the city of Bydgoszcz. Palacios felt he won the fight against an elusive opponent who appeared wary of his power, and one judge agreed with him 115-113 after 12 rounds. The remaining two caused controversy by choosing Wlodarczyk as the victor by the respective scores of 116-113 and 118-112.
It didn’t help Wlodarczyk that 3.2 million Poles watched the fight on television, and the announcers favored the American in the fight.
“It was a learning experience in that I knew I was winning the fight inside the ring, but I was in a foreign country and should have fought even harder to make Wlodarczyk open up, which wasn’t easy,” Palacios said. “I think the reaction by his own countrymen afterwards gives him no choice but to fight more in the rematch, which is what I want.”
Palacios demanded an immediate rematch from the WBC, but the sanctioning organization allowed the Pole an interim fight with Danny Green before facing Palacios. Wlodarczyk redeemed himself by traveling to Australia and stunning Green with an 11th-round technical knockout in a fight he had been losing on the scorecards. Now Palacios looms on Sept. 22.
“The first time I went to Poland, it was a good training camp but I didn’t have the camaraderie I now have with the sparring partners. This time, the guys I’m working with stay with me, eat dinner with me and they are giving me the mental support to beat Wlodarczyk. We are all working together to bring home a world title. This has been the best training camp of my life.”
The ever-talkative and outgoing Palacios has refocused himself for the rematch.
“Before the first fight, I was talking too much. I was paying attention to what Wlodarczyk was saying and responding to that. This time, I’m only focusing on my preparation and nothing else. It’s up to me to win this fight, not about my opponent losing it.
When asked what he’s doing better now than in the past, Palacios was quick to respond.
“I’m doing everything better. My major improvement is in mental preparation. I’m approaching this fight differently. This time, I’m going to tell the referee before the match that I’m coming to fight because this is a world championship.
“Every time I put some punches together in the last fight, the referee would warn me and break up the action. I spent too much time trying to keep the referee happy. Nobody’s going to prevent me from fighting this time—not Wlodarczyk, not the referee, not anyone. I am going to throw a lot of punches and throw caution to the wind, which is the kind of fighter I am anyway.”
Josue Aguilar, Palacios longtime trainer, has seen changes in his fighter.
“We will have a different approach this time,” Aguilar said. “It’s not enough just to win, Francisco must dominate.
“The biggest difference between then and now is we learned everything we needed to know about Diablo in the first fight, but he doesn’t even begin to know the real Francisco Palacios. That is who he will face in the rematch. The intensity level will be off the charts.”
Palacios’ promoter Don King has a long history of sending his fighters into hostile territories, so he remains resolute that truth will prevail in the end.
“Thomas Carlyle said, ‘No lie can live forever’ and I truly believe that,” King said. “Cisco is not the first American to travel overseas and receive an unfriendly decision. But that is not important. What is important is how he responds to the adversity.
“I have spoken to him, and he knows how important this fight is to his career. I love Cisco because he comes to fight. He’s my kind of fighter. He’s very important to me and all of us at Don King Productions—we’re all behind him, 100 percent. He will bring home the world title he has worked so hard for.”
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
