Back in February, Alberto Machado was looking to put the finishing touches on blue-collar contender Andrew Cancio. The fight wasn’t two minutes old when he dropped the challenger with a stiff combination.

However, things took a dramatic twist when Cancio floored the Puerto Rican star three times en route to a stunning fourth-round victory. It left Machado with a hugely important decision to make. Does he enforce his rematch clause or step up to lightweight?

After much deliberation with his team, the 5-foot-10-inch southpaw, who was bursting at the seams, elected to face Cancio a second time. The two collide at Fantasy Springs, Indio, California on Friday.

“It’s a great motivation for me to know that in defeat I can become a two-time world champion by beating him and this is what motivated me.” Machado (21-1, 17 knockouts) told The Ring through Bryan Perez of Miguel Cotto Promotions.

Machado revealed that he was 17 pounds over the 130-pound limit two weeks prior to the first fight, 11 pounds over a week before and six pounds over the night before the weigh in. The 28-year-old feels that showed in the fight and says this time it will be different.

“The preparation and concentration will be the difference on June 21.” said Machado.

For the first fight “El Explosivo” had a six-week training camp, forgoing his usual eight-week camp because his infant child was having groin surgery. Thankfully his young son is now doing well and the San Juan resident had a full eight-week training camp at the Wild Card with Freddie Roach.

Cancio turned professional in 2006. Nothing has come easy for the California-based fighter who learned his trade on the job. He lost a few fights on the way up and looked like he may slip into the role of gatekeeper after being stopped for the only time in his career by Jo Diaz in 2016. However, after a 19-month hiatus, the construction worker returned to win two fights before shocking Machado. “El Chango’s” record stands at 20-4-2 (15 KOs).

Cotto is expecting the rematch to be as exciting as their first encounter.

“One fight isn’t enough for these two warriors,” said the former four-weight world titleholder. “It will be a night to remember. Cancio came in willing to accomplish [his dream] and he made it.

“Now he needs to defend what he worked so hard for. Machado needs to prove that he owns his territory in the junior lightweight division and get his crown back. It will be an epic battle.”

The bout will be broadcast live on DAZN in the U.S.

Editor’s Note: Cancio will be defending a version of the WBA title that is unrecognized by The Ring. Gervonta Davis is the WBA titleholder at 130 pounds.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright

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