Andrew Cancio officially signs with Top Rank, plans April return

As reported a couple weeks back, former WBA super featherweight champion Andrew Cancio has signed with Top Rank after being released by Golden Boy in November. He is “expected” to make his promotion debut in April, with Mike Coppinger reporting that it could take place on the April 25th Naoya Inoue-John Riel Casimero card in Vegas.

Cancio (21-5-2, 16 KO) scored a 2019 Upset of the Year nominee last April when he got off the canvas to beat down Alberto Machado in Indio. “El Explosivo” immediately exercised a rematch clause, blaming a bad weight cut for his performance, but succumbed even quicker four months later. The eminently likable Cancio, who fights part-time alongside a construction job, then faced former foe Rene Alvarado, ending up on the wrong end of a similarly shocking result as the resurgent Nicaragua battered him into submission.

Things quickly went from bad to worse for “El Chango,” as Golden Boy released him in apparent retaliation for some mildly critical comments he’d made. Luckily, Top Rank intervened, and he now has a plethora of interesting opponents available to him.

“I’m very grateful to begin the next chapter of my career with Bob Arum and the entire Top Rank team in my corner,” Cancio said. “I look forward to returning to the ring in front of my army of supporters and am fully prepared to fight my way towards becoming a world champion again. Thanks very much to my team, particularly my manager, Ray Chaparro, who has always believed in me and has been incredibly supportive of my career and instrumental in the success I’ve achieved.”

Cancio is still just 31 and always good for a scrap, so it’s good to see things work out in his favor.