NEW YORK (October 22, 2023) – Giovani Santillan remained undefeated in capturing the NABO Welterweight title with an empathic six-round beatdown of WBO number-one ranked Alexis Rocha in a bout that headlined a DAZN streamed card at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. Santillan is managed by Split-T Management.
Santillan put a career best performance as he battered and bloodied the highly regarded Rocha from the outset, Santillan, who began to bloody Rocha as early as round three, scored two knockdowns in round five. The first was set up by an uppercut. By that time the face of Rocha was a mess and Santillan continued to pour it on and the stoppage was inevitable.
That came just a round later when Santillan continued his assault that resulted in the third knockdown of the fight and the fight was mercifully waved off in favor of Santillan at 1:13.
“I feel good. It was the outcome we were looking for. You never know how these types of fights will go,” said Santillan. “Alexis is a great fighter, and he’s tough. He got up twice and he’s never been stopped before! It’s different with all these people here and when you’re the b-side. He brought all his fans and his supporters which makes boxing a great sport. 2024 is going to be a great year for me now with this performance. I needed this to secure a title shot.”
“Giovani is a testament to hard work and perseverance. He’s the consummate professional and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Against Rocha the rest of the world got to see he can really fight also,” said David McWater of Split-T Management.
Santillan of San Diego is promoted by Top-Rank and is now 32-0 with 17 knockouts.