Thursday, November 10, 2016 was an action-packed night at The Hilton in Washington DC, filled with a diverse crowd and tons of excitement at the 26th annual Fight for Children charity event.
Undefeated Roc Nation Sports Featherweight fighter Daniel “Twitch” Franco (15-0-3, 10 KOs) put an exclamation point on the evening with a crowd-pleasing knockout victory over previously unbeaten fighter, Derrick Murray (13-1-1, 5 KOs).
“I knew I could knock him out in the later rounds,” said Franco after the fight.
“I didn’t think it was going to come that early.”
Guests included Michael Wilbon, Isaiah Thomas and notable fighters such as Larry Holmes, Buster Douglas, Gerry Cooney and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.
Beautiful night, honorable people, worthy cause #Fight4Children @fightnightdc pic.twitter.com/6xCw9eDQ3h
— Fight For Children (@Fight4Children) November 11, 2016
Although Franco and Murray both entered the scheduled 10-round bout unbeaten, the difference in pedigree was evident early on as Twitch applied constant pressure and landed effective blows to the body, while Murray simply looked overwhelmed.
Franco served up three and four punch combinations throughout each of the first four rounds before he was able to trap Murray in a corner in Round 5 and drop him with a thunderous combination.
Murray tried valiantly to rise up, but was unsuccessful. “It’s a dream come true,” said Franco after the fight.
“I want to be a world champion, and this is a major step.”
With the fifth-round knockout victory, Franco picked up the vacant USBA Featherweight title and surely gained a wave of fans.
All photos by Round By Round Boxing
