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.
Great fight
Congratulations to Norman
I just did not like his celebration
I hope there is a rematch.
Was it a celebration or just an instinctive reaction to a brutal KO?
It was disgusting and disrespectful
My point is it could have been a spontaneous reaction and possibly a show of concern.
There was clearly no show of concern it him being disrespectful by mocking him opponent after dropping him. You can call it whatever you like it doesn’t change the act. There was no concern in his body language.
Rematch why. Norman will beat him again.
Ask yourself, why do you want to see a rematch? This fight was conclusive. I agree
Norman was disrespectful in his celebration
after the knockout, but we don’t know what went on leading up to the fight. Santillan was the favorite, and he was fighting in his hometown. I suspect this had something
to do with Brian’s reaction.
I bet you liked the way Garcia danced over Haney when he floored him.
What a BEAUTIFUL and BRUTAL fight that was. That was fantastic!
Very good fight. Norman is someone to be dealt with, but act like you been there before! Posing, disrespecting as you knock someone down? An opponent that did not talk crap about you? Can’t wait till the tables are turned.
Norman, Jr. (Norman) needs to work on his rhythm with better head movements, more fluid combination punches and better angles. Norman also leaves himself too open while trying to hold. Santillan was on the canvas, and Norman should have gone near his corner to celebrate.
Good win for Norman because Santillan was a tough, tough hombre.
Great fight full of action, very bloody brutal ! This weekend of boxing has not dissapointed! Navarrete fight is next and it has the tools for a great fight to close the show!
Norman will still knockout that gentleman even with a rematch. He’s just so skillful.
A rematch will be fair
bloody mess.
Great win for Norman..
Norman did extremely well gotta see where he goes from here maybe 2 more fights before I can get a better feel on his skills
But based on this fight he looks like a solid dude who can take a punch and box has a big strong frame for 147 too
Fight should have been stopped the round before; saving the fighter from the totally unnecessary (probably career ending ) punishment the fighter took in the final. I love boxing, but that was wrong…
Norman did a masterpiece against Santillan
It was a good fight, both fighters have hearts
Norman good fight…. showcased good skill and heart…good upside… excellent mixture of short punches on the inside..way to fight in the trenches….keep your head off that line!!!! Reminds me of when James Tony beat Barkley….can’t speak enuff on that inside punching…short with snap…way to represent our hometown ATL…and to that …never again show disrespect like that to a fallen warrior…be humble….back to the gym focus on your craft…please build on this win…. expecting good things!!!
Good fighter but his little celebration or whatever that was, was classless. A guy had just been knocked out! Norman looked like a punk!
What a fight!!!!! Watched it last night for the 3 time already!! Kind of felt like Robert Garcia kept his guy in there a couple of rounds too long, therefore almost ensuring a KO!!! Bad KO at that!!