By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

FRANKLIN “Frank the Crank” Camacho knew his opponent who held a purple belt in jujitsu was tough guy, aside from being much taller than he.
“So I thought I had to be smart to be able to defeat him,” recalls Camacho, a senior from Marianas High School
Camacho came home last year as the new light-heavy weight champion of the Universal Reality Combat Championship after knocking out in 42 seconds reigning champion, Fritz Rodriguez in a fight in San Juan, Philippines on Dec. 2.
It was his first international fight.
On Thursday last week, the Ninth Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council honored Camacho for that victory.
In a resolution, council members Marian DLG Tudela, Antonia M. Tudela and Angel S. Hocog, congratulated Frank “The Crank”, his proud parents and family, and his coaches, Cuki Alvarez, Tetsuji Kato and Joe Ocampo.
The 5’8” champion who has been involved in his career for two years was accompanied by his father, Francisco Camacho, when he received the council’s congratulatory resolution during rites in the Municipal Council office.
Camacho said he thinks there are lot of potential bets in the CNMI for a lot of different sports. It only takes having trainers who are as good as his coaches to develop them.
“I would like to thank Alvarez, Kato and Ocampo for their support and for teaching me how to be smart in fighting,” he said.
Camacho has engaged in many other matches on Saipan and Guam. Among his victories were the Trench Wars “Fight Night” against Bernie “The Shadow of Death” Neth and Trench Wars 2 against Mike Camacho.
He captured a gold medal in wrestling in last year’s Micronesian Games.
Being a student, he had to learn how to manage his time during his training. He usually starts his training at 5 p.m., every day, but there are times when he has to skip a training or two due to his studies which he places as his first priority.