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Caribe Royale Resort, Orlando, Florida - William Foster III passed a difficult test, earning a hard-fought split decision against Edwin De Los Santos in an eight-round super featherweight bout. Two judges scored the fight 77-74 twice for Foster, with the third judge scoring it 77-74 in favor of De Los Santos.
Foster (14-0, 9 KOs) of West Haven, Conn., overcame a slow start but was the busier fighter, outthrowing De Los Santos 468-421. Fighting in his U.S. debut, the power-punching De Los Santos (13-1, 12 KOs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, had an eventful fourth round, suffering a cut above his left eye, which seemed to slow him over the final four rounds. It was the first time the Dominican suffered a cut in his professional career.
De Los Santos also had a point taken away in the fourth for holding. Fatigue was also a factor as De Los Santos had never been past the sixth round in his young career and seemed to run out of gas as the fight wore on.
“I was pressuring him the whole time and I knew he was slowing down and eventually I would get to him,” said Foster, who kept moving forward as the fight progressed and dictated and landed the more powerful punches. “I thought it was the right decision because I was landing more shots as the fight went on.”
The 28-year-old Foster – the younger brother of 20-0 professional light heavyweight prospect Charles Foster – was surprised with how fast De Los Santos started.
“I knew I had to stay calm, and I adapted and my experience allowed me to adjust to what was happening,” Foster said. “He wasn’t devastating, and the punches never hurt me. I knew he would slow down and when he did, I began to land my shots and had success with my pressure.”
Regarding the point deduction in the fourth, De Los Santos disagreed with the referee’s decision.
“I didn’t think the point should have been deducted,” said De Los Santos, who had scored stoppages in his last seven fights. “I thought I should have been warned first.
“I thought it was a close fight, but I thought I did enough to earn the victory. I was landing the harder shots throughout and he never hurt me.”
Added De Los Santos: “He was a little awkward and he came with a little more than we thought he would, but I still thought I won. He was aggressive and maybe I slowed down a little as the fight went on, but I still thought I was landing. This is a setback but I’ll learn from this and come back better.”