Santillan vs Norman leads Navarrete vs Berinchyk undercard

Richard Torrez Jr opens the ESPN main card against TBA

Giovani Santillan has a dance partner for his previously revealed co-main slot on ESPN’s May 18th Emanuel Navarrete vs Denis Berinchyk show: fellow unbeaten up-and-comer Brian Norman Jr.

It’s both a quick turnaround and an extremely ambitious move for the 23-year-old Norman (25-0, 19 KO), who cruised past Quinton Randall last November before settling for a no contest against Janelson Bochachica a month back. Santillan’s (32-0, 17 KO) stock is at an all-time high after last October’s mugging of Alexis Rocha earned him a spot atop the WBO rankings.

“Brian Norman Jr. is a highly skilled young fighter,” Santillan said. “I get so much motivation from my city, and fighting at Pechanga Arena is always special. May 18 will be a great night, and I can’t wait to give my fans another victory.”

Norman said, “This is the big fight I have been waiting for. It’s time to show the world what I’m about.”

The main card opener sees Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr (9-0, 9 KO) continue his farce of a career “against an opponent to be named.” Seeing as we’re a little over six weeks out, we can safely assume it’ll be yet another professional sandbag for him to slaughter.

Emiliano Vargas (9-0, 7 KO), Alan Garcia (12-0, 10 KO), and Art Barrera (4-0, 40 KO) all see action on the ESPN+ undercard after picking up wins this past weekend. Charlie Sheehy (9-0, 5 KO) vs Manuel Jaimes (15-1-1, 11 KO), Jonathan Lopez (14-0, 10 KO) vs Edgar Ortega (14-2-2, 7 KO), and Jonny Mansour’s pro debut round out the prelims.