Emiliano Moreno-Cesar Francis crossroads fight to co-headline February 19 ProBox card

A crossroads showdown between an unbeaten welterweight on the rise and a former prospect looking to regain his standing in the sport will co-headline the February 19, 2025 edition of ProBox.

Emiliano Moreno, 11-0 (6 KOs), will step up to the 10-round level for the first time when he meets New Yorker Cesar Francis, 13-2 (8 KOs), at Chicken Ranch Casino Resort in Jamestown, California. The welterweight bout will be the chief supporting contest to the main event, which features local favorite Gabriel Flores Jnr, 25-2 (8 KOs), against an opponent to be named.

The 19-year-old Moreno, who grew up in Long Beach, California but now lives and trains in Las Vegas, has stepped up significantly since his first fight with ProBox TV in November of 2023, when he stopped the previously unbeaten Daniel Lim in two rounds. Now he will take another big step-up in competition against Francis, who had followed a similar path with ProBox TV before suffering back to back defeats in 2023.

“The fight means a lot. I take every fight seriously. I want to look my best in every fight. I’m working on a lot of things so I think in this fight you’ll see a bunch of new things that I’m working on in this camp,” said Moreno, who is trained by his father, Jaime Moreno.

“He’s a good opponent but I’ve studied his mistakes and what he does, his habits. I feel I will outclass him in everything he does.”

Rather than looking at this fight as being used as a stepping stone, Francis says the tough matchup came at his request. At age 34, Francis says he didn’t want to tread water with an easy match-up, and wanted a fight against someone he could make a statement against.

“One thing that I did tell ProBox…I don’t need any easy fights. That’s not where I am in my career. They brought me this kid. I don’t really know him so well, I’ve seen him once on ProBox. He’s exciting and comes forward, which I like. It’s gonna be a perfect fight for my style,” said Francis, who hasn’t fought since December of 2023, when he stopped the once-beaten Windry Amadis Martinez in two rounds.

Francis adds that he feels he is a much different fighter at 147 than he was a division below, citing his difficulties making 140lbs for his listless performances in losses to Jesus Saracho and Rohan Polanco.

ProBox TV matchmaker Chris Glover believes Francis will be a different fighter at 147, adding that this fight will demonstrate where Moreno fits in among the rising welterweights in the sport.

“Cesar is the ideal opponent to show what level he’s at. It’s a really intriguing fight. It’s a fight that is attempting to show that Emiliano Moreno is already on a world level at 19-20 years old,” said Glover.

“[Moreno] has all the attributes to become a very young world champion.”

Moreno’s manager Ray Frye agrees. Frye, who turned Moreno professional at age 15 in Mexico, says the idea is to have Moreno continue to face stiffer competition in each fight to prepare him for when he eventually meets championship level boxers in the division.Though Francis has a significant edge in experience, having beaten former WBO lightweight champion Ray Beltran and gone the 10-round distance three times, Moreno has gained valuable experience in the gym sparring with former world champions like Erislandy Lara and Tim Tszyu.

“Cesar Francis is tall and long, and so is Emiliano. Emiliano is more on the offensive side; Cesar Francis will try to be offensive but I think he’ll be more on the defensive side. They’re both boxer-punchers, on paper it definitely looks like a good fight. But I do look for Emiliano to make a statement at this next level,” said Frye.

Other boxers slated for action on the card include unbeaten heavyweight Antonio Mireles, 8-0-1 (7 KOs) and featherweight David Navarro, 7-1 (3 KOs).

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.