It is a few days before Andrew Cancio competes for his first world championship, as he takes on WBA (regular) super featherweight champion Alberto Machado from the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, live and exclusively on DAZN.

Cancio is working while he's speaking with Sporting News, but not in preparation for Machado. Instead, Cancio is in the middle of a shift for a gas company based in Oxnard, California.

"Right now, I’m doing something called leak survey," Cancio told SN. "I have a dipper, which sniffs gas and we walk to the gas mains at where we are serviced. If the beeper goes off then we get a leak and we have to start investigating it. We call it walking the dog. You just stick this down and just walk the dog. We have maps that show us where our service is at. I'm still able to do my job and talk to you, as Tuesdays are the easiest days."

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The 30-year-old didn't have to always juggle a full-time job and his boxing career.

Cancio (19-4-2, 14 KOs) started his career in 2006 and went 12-1-2 in his first 15 fights — a pretty good record and one that normally would have boxers knocking on the door of a world title shot. While he sported a great record, things weren't going great for Cancio professionally nor personally.

He wasn't fighting enough and combat sport athletes only get paid when they step inside the ring or the cage. Cancio wasn't getting those opportunities. Therefore, he was failing behind financially. With two kids, Cancio wanted to make sure they were living the life he wanted them to have. So, he did what a responsible parent would do.

"I had some management issues and had to move out to Oxnard," Cancio explained about his decision back in February 2012. "I was fighting out here and getting only one or two fights a year. I couldn’t even afford to make rent. My mother- and father-in-law and my parents would help me out and cover the rent. Then, my brother worked for the gas company out in Oxnard and that’s how I was able to move out so quickly. I stayed out there with him for a bit."

Cancio added: "He always told me to have a Plan B – you have kids to think about. I was draining my bank account just to survive. Then I just had enough. My manager wasn’t doing his job and not getting me fights. An example is when I get sent to fight Jerry Belmontes in San Antonio. I knew I was getting sent to lose and only got $8,000 for it. I won the fight and left that manager right after that. That was when I knew I had to become full-time at the gas company and now I’ve been full-time there for almost four years."

At the gas company, Cancio works Monday-Friday and trains Thursday-Tuesday. The work week starts for "El Chango" at 4:30 a.m., when he gets up and goes for a run to put the miles in and then starts his job two hours later at 6:30. He gets off at 4-4:30 and then heads to the gym to train. The day concludes when he steps through the door at around 7-7:30 p.m. Cancio knows it isn't the ideal situation, but one that will have to do for the time being.

"It’s something I have to do," Cancio said. "I have two kids that I have the responsibility of. Boxing didn’t quite work out the way I thought it would a long time ago. It’s just one of those things that it didn’t work out like I thought it would from the get-go. I don’t think I could quit this job and become a full-time fighter just yet."

People at the gas company have been accommodating to Cancio's needs when he is in preparation for a fight. Even though Cancio receives a good paycheck to support his family, it doesn't mean the thought of returning to the Sweet Science permanantly hasn't entered his brain. Securing a world title this weekend won't do it right away, but would take a major step towards that.

"I would love to be a full-time boxer again and get into the other things in the sport and not have to go back to the gas company," Cancio said. "I could take a leave of absence for I think 18 months. Right now, this is my first world title fight and my first decent paycheck. It’s not going to last a long time though. I want to buy a house for my kids and put a good size down payment and have a good college plan for them. It would be scary for me, but it just depends on the circumstances. It would be nice to be able to fight three-four times a year and not have to worry people covering my shifts and making sure I always get out on time. Sometimes we get a call late in the afternoon and we have to move on a leak or a line. My supervisor has been helping me out a lot right now and getting off on time and the guys I work with relieve me."

He added: "This fight won't allow me to quit and give 100 percent focus on boxing. It just won’t. It would still have to be a while — another couple fights and then we’d go from there. This fight will show that we did it once and will need a couple more fights to do that."

Machado (21-0, 17 KOs) is thought of as one of the rising stars in the sport. He burst onto the scene in October 2017, when he destroyed Jezreel Corrales by eighth-round knockout to capture the WBA belt. Since then, Machado has beaten Rafael Mensah in July and he wrecked Yuandale Evans by first-round KO in October.

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Cancio is impressed with what he has seen so far from Machado. When it comes right down to it, Cancio feels he has the right recipe to halt the Machado train and bring home the gold.

"I just don’t think he’s faced anyone like myself," Cancio said. "I have the style to stop him and upset him big time. I’m big and strong and like to throw really good body shots. I’m looking to do that in this fight and do what I do best. I know people think this is going to be an easy win for Machado. My team and I don’t feel that way. I’m excited for this opportunity. I know what I have to do to beat him. I’m going to take home that belt."