Giovani Santillan Decisions Tough Macias Over Eight in Ontario
By Francisco Salazar
ONTARIO, Calif. - Giovani Santillan needed a gut-check type of fight early on in his career.
He got it Friday night, as Jose De Jesus Macias gave him all he could handle.
Santillan won a hard-fought eight round unanimous decision over Macias before a near sell-out crowd at the Doubletree Hotel.
Santillan was coming off a second round knockout win over Rosbel Montoya on November 20. Outside of a majority decision victory over Ernesto Ortiz last September, Santillan has faced modest challenges early on in his career.
In his last bout on January 31, Macias lost a one-sided 10 round decision to Erickson Lubin.
From the opening bell, Santillan was able to effectively counter Macias. Santillan hit pay-dirt in the second round, dropping Macias with a counter right hook to the head.
It looked as though Santillan was going to cruise to a victory, but Macias came on in the middle rounds. Aside from a steady barrage of body punches, Macias was able to briefly walk Santillan down, landing hard uppercuts to the head.
Macias continued to apply the pressure, but seemed to lose some steam on his punches by the seventh round. Macias had his moments, but Santillan was able to connect more with each passing minute.
Both had their moments in the final round, but Santillan seemed to be the least-tired fighter, allowing him to connect more to the head of Macias.
All three judges scored the bout in favor of Santillan, 80-72, 78-73, and 79-72.
Santillan goes to 19-0, 10 KOs, while Macias drops to 18-6-2, 9 KOs.
Jose Roman, who normally fights as a lightweight, knocked out late-sub Angel Martinez in the second round. Fighting Friday night as a junior welterweight, Roman (22-1-1, 15 KOs) dropped Martinez with what looked like a left-right combo to the head, but replays showed an inadvertent head-butt was what dropped Martinez. After getting up, Martinez (14-9-1, 9 KOs) attempted to fend Roman off, but Roman dropped the fighter from Mexico with a barrage of punches moments later. Martinez struggled to get off, but his corner threw in the towel, prompting referee Ray Corona to stop the bout at 1:06.
Bantamweight contender Carlos Carlson (20-1, 11 KOs) won a one-sided six round decision over veteran Giovanni Caro. Carlson, who is ranked number 14 by the WBC, pressed the fight from the opening bel, using his height and reach to mostly keep Caro at bay. Caro (23-18-4, 19 KOs) attempted to mount an offense, but it was Carlson who scored consistently on the inside. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Carlson, 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.
Junior lightweight Erick Ituarte (13-1-1, 2 KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Fernando Fuentes, who found himself in an early hole midway through the first round, as he was dropped by a one-two combination to the head. Ituarte was effective on the inside, landing the more-effective punches while Fuentes was at his best from the outside. There were some decent exchanges between the two during the second half of the fight, but it was Ituarte who landed the more-telling blows. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Ituarte, 60-53, 58-56, and 57-56.
Junior welterweight Manuel Mendez stopped late-sub Jose Araiza in the fourth and final round. Mendez (10-1-1, 6 KOs) was far more busier and aggressive, raining down an abundant amount of hooks and crosses onto Araiza. Mendez, who is trained by Joel Diaz, stunned Araiza (34-16-1, 25 KOs) midway through the fourth round with a right cross to the head. Araiza attempted to fight back, but Mendez's strength and volume of punches scored repeatedly on a defenseless Araiza, promoting referee Ray Corona to stop the fight at 2:18.
In the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing card, lightweight Cesar Villarraga won a four round unanimous decision over Hugo Padilla. Villarraga (9-1, 4 KOs) landed the more-telling blows throughout the fight, easily countering Padilla (2-6, 1 KO) with left hooks to the head. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Villarraga.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
