Giovani Santillan knew Jeovanis Barraza had nothing left to offer – it was up to Santillan to decide whether or not he wanted to make it a short night.
In the end, the aggressive 30-year-old welterweight from San Diego forced referee Thomas Taylor to halt his 10-round bout with Jeovanis Barraza of Colombia 33 seconds into the seventh round Saturday night at The Hanger in Costa Mesa, California, in the ESPN co-feature bout of the Mikaela Mayer-Jennifer Han women’s WBO/IBF junior lightweight title unification bout.
The unbeaten Santillan, who enjoyed the presence of a partisan crowd – Costa Mesa is an hour away from his hometown – was never once troubled, as he stalked and battered Barraza en route to his 29th win (16 KOs). Barraza, as crude as they come, had no idea how to combat the pressure of Santillan. It was the second loss in a row for Barraza (23-3, 15 KOs), whose previous bout coincidentally was with another aggressive southpaw from California, Alexis Rocha of Santa Ana.
“I am humbled by the support of my hometown, San Diego,” Santillan said afterward. “Once again, they came out in force. They motivate me to do my best every time out there.
“I am going to keep working to earn a welterweight world title shot. I have a great team behind me, and when the time comes, I’ll be ready.”
In the fifth round, Santillan, who is promoted by Thompson Boxing, continued to put a beatdown on his adversary. Toward the end of the round, he unleashed seemingly eight hooks that went unanswered by Barraza, whose only response was to shake his head.
Early on in the fourth round, Santillan drilled Barraza with a hard straight left. Santillan continued to chip away at Barraza on the inside, throwing hooks that went around Barraza’s tight guard. Once again, there was little return fire from the Colombian.
Santillan had a dominant third round, battering Barraza against the ropes. Barraza responded by simply shelling up and moving around the ring.
In the second round, Santillan’s class began to show. He continued to press the pace, overwhelming Barraza at times with combinations on the inside. Barraza looked clumsy trying to fight off the ropes. At one point, a composed Santillan landed a six-punch combination to the body that went unanswered by Barraza.
In the opening round, Santillan set the tone in his favor, pressing Barraza and working the body. Barraza was able to counter Santillan coming in a few times, but he would never have that kind of success later in the fight.