Giovani Santillan is Ready For Doubletree Showdown
By Francisco Salazar
Unbeaten Giovani Santillan will fight Luis Solis in an eight round bout at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. on Friday night.
The bout will headline a five-bout “New Blood” card, presented by Thompson Boxing Promotions. Santillan will defend a regional title belt.
In his last bout on August 16 in San Diego, Santillan (14-0, 7 KOs) stopped Osenohan Vazquez in the fifth round. Santillan resides in San Diego.
Friday’s fight will be Santillan’s fourth of 2014 after having fought five times in 2013. The southpaw junior welterweight has benefited from fighting often as he has improved thus far as a pro.
Solis (15-4-4, 12 KOs) had won four bouts in a row since his first loss, but he has lost his last two bouts in a row. In his last bout on August 15 in Corona, Calif., Solis lost an eight round split decision to former fringe contender Miguel Angel Huerta.
Prior to that bout on May 16, Solis lost a close 10 round unanimous decision to Jose Roman, even though Solis dropped Roman three times in the first round.
In the eight round co-main event, junior featherweight Isaac Zarate will fight Fernando Samaniego for a regional title.
Zarate (8-1-1, 1 KO) is unbeaten in his last four bouts since suffering his only defeat at the hands to Tramaine Williams in June of last year. In his last bout on August 15 in Corona, Zarate knocked out Guadalupe Becerra in the first round. Zarate resides in the Los Angeles suburb of San Pedro.
Samaniego (6-0-1, 3 KOs), who resides in Phoenix, fought to a four round majority decision draw against Francisco Camacho on April 25 in Ontario. Samaniego was scheduled to face Juan Reyes on Friday, but Reyes came down with the flu and had to withdraw from the fight.
In other bouts:
- Junior featherweight Fernando Fuentes (4-3) of nearby Hemet will fight Erick Aguirre (4-4-1, 2 KOs) of San Diego in a six round bout.
- In a battle of unbeaten Mexican flyweights, Javier Lapizco (6-0, 2 KOs) will fight Cesar Sustaita (3-0, 3 KOs) in a four round bout. Lapizco hails from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, while Sustaita is from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
- Heavyweight Roy McCray (3-1, 3 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev. will fight Mario Heredia (8-1, 7 KOs) of Mexico City in a four round bout.
Tickets are on sale and could be purchased by calling (714) 935-0900 or at thompsonboxing.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with first bell scheduled for 7:30 p.m. local time.
The Doubletree Hotel is located at 222 North Vineyard Avenue in Ontario.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar 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
