Norman stops WBO #1 Santillan for interim title
By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Unbeaten WBO #10 welterweight Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) scored a spectacular tenth round knockout over previously unbeaten WBO #1-rated Giovani Santillan (32-1, 17 KOs) to claim the vacant WBO interim world title on Saturday night at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. Norman badly busted up Santillan, then dropped him twice in round ten to end it.
Norman Jr of Atlanta, in hostile territory against hometown hero Santillan, came out boxing, working the jab and using his hand speed in the opening round, while Santillan patiently crouched and stalked looking to work his way inside.
In round two, Norman continued to take it to Santillan by letting his hands go and connecting while Santillan kept working his way in and was on the receiving end of Norman’s punches as the hometown fighter began to develop some redness on the face. Santillan suffered a cut on his left eye in round three that trickled blood but that did not stop Santillan from coming as Norman clinched and limited Santillan’s output. The inside fighting continued in the fourth as Santillan kept pressing and Norman mixed it up in standing his ground.
Maintaining his poise, Santillan kept boxing in the fifth but Norman was not making it easy as he continued to stay busy. At the halfway mark in the sixth, Santillan had Norman pinned up on the ropes and worked inside staying busy and limiting Norman’s reach as the hometown fans were on their feet cheering on Santillan. It was a close one halfway through in the seventh. Santillan kept pressing but Norman wouldn’t hold back, shortly after Norman suffered a cut on his left eye. Working inside in the eighth, Santillan and Norman continued to dish it out as Norman caught Santillan and stopped his momentum.
The hometown fighter was bloodied in the ninth as the momentum was in Norman’s favor, tagging Santillan with solid punches and pressing the fight. Norman sent Santillan to the canvas in the tenth. Santillan continued but he was explosively laid out by Norman and referee Ray Corona immediately waved it off at 1:33 of the tenth.
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