Thompson Boxing: Giovani Santillan remains unbeaten!
Photos: Art Gallegos Jr./Standnfight.com
Welterweight prospect Giovani Santillan (19-0, 10 KOs) remained unbeaten on Friday night, defeating a tough Jose De Jesus Macias (18-5-2, 9 KOs) at the Double tree Hotel in Ontario Ca. Santillan, of San Diego scored an early knockdown in the second round but Macias beat the count and fought off the follow up attack. From there, it was the stronger Santillan who controlled the action and seemed to land the heavier shots during exchanges. All three judges had Santillan on top after eight rounds, scoring it 80-72, 78-73 and 79-72.
In the co-feature, super lightweight Jose Roman (22-1-1, 15 KOs) stopped Angel Martinez (14-9-1, 9 KOs) at 1:06 of the second round. A clash of heads during a heated exchange put Martinez on the canvas. He would beat the count but was clearly hurt. A follow up attack would have referee Ray Corona stepping and saving Martinez from further damage.
Super bantamweight Carlos Carlson (19-1, 11 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Giovanni Caro (23-17-4, 19 KOs) after six rounds. Carlson pressed the action for most of the fight to earn scores of 59-55 and 60-54 twice.
Super featherweight Erick Ituarte (13-1-1, 2 KOs) had his hands full with Fernando Fuentes (7-7, 1 KO), edging out a unanimous decision after 6 rounds. While the cards had it wide for Ituarte, the fight itself seemed a lot closer. Fuentes hit the deck in the opening round but fought his way back into the fight. There was even exchanges throughout but Ituarte finished strong and edged out the victory. One judge had it a shutout for Ituarte at 60-53 while another called it 58-55. The third judge seemed to be more aligned with what we saw, scoring it nearly even at 57-56.
Super lightweight Manuel Mendez (10-1-1, 6 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over Jose Araiza (34-15-2, 25 KOs). Referee Ray Corona would step in and halt the action following a flurry of shots that left Araiza unable to defend himself. Time was 2:18 of the final round.
Lightweight Cesar Villarraga (9-1, 4 KOs) pulled out a unanimous decision over Hugo Padilla (2-6, 1 KO) after four rounds. Villarraga dominated the action in the opening rounds but seemed to hurt his right hand midway through. By the fourth and final round it was Villarraga boxing and closing the show with barrage of jabs and left hooks. Scores were 40-36 all around