Brian Norman Jr. upsets Giovani Santillan with bloody, brutal 10th-round KO
SAN DIEGO – Fighting in his opponent’s hometown as the underdog, Brian Norman was not going to be denied.
Norman stopped Giovani Santillan, rated No. 4 by The Ring at 147 pounds, in Round 10 on Saturday before a shocked and partisan crowd at Pechanga Arena. Norman improved to 26-0, 20 knockouts and won the interim WBO welterweight title.
Both Santillan and Norman fought on the inside from the opening bell, exchanging hooks and crosses. Norman spent most of the first two rounds with his back against the ropes, but did well fighting on the inside, connecting with uppercuts to the head.
Early in round three, a cut appeared above the left eye of Santillan, although it was uncertain whether it was a punch or an accidental clash of heads that opened the cut. Both fought more from distance during that round, each landing their share of punches. Santillan threw and landed lead left crosses to the head, while Norman connected with a series of straight right hands and right crosses to the head.
A series of straight left hands snapped back the head of Norman in round five. It was during that round that Santillan began to also focus his attack on Norman’s body. Undaunted, Norman fought back, countering a straight right to the head of Santillan towards the end of the round.
Giovanni Santillan dished out his share of punishment during his brutal war with Brian Norman Jr. Photo by German Villasenor
At the start of round seven, Norman found success initiating exchanges, throwing and landing straight right hands and left hooks to the head. Late in the round, Norman was able to outbox and outland Santillan on the inside.
Norman almost dropped Santillan with a right-left combination to the head about a minute left in the round. The punch backed Santillan up against the ropes, where Norman attempted to follow up. Blood began gushing out of Santillan’s nose.
Blood continued to gush out of Santillan’s nose in round nine. Norman walked down Santillan, who looked weakened from the amount of punches he was taking and, possibly, from the amount of blood that continued to gush out of his nose.
About a minute into round 10, a right-left combination, followed by a right uppercut dropped Santillan to the canvas. Santillan beat the count and tried to fight back but was viciously dropped again to the canvas by a right hand, left uppercut to the head. Referee Ray Corona immediately stopped the fight at 1:33.
Brian Norman Jr. took over the fight in Round 8 and spilled a lot of Giovani Santillan’s blood in Round 9 before ending matters in Round 10. Photo by German Villasenor
At the time of the stoppage, Norman was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards, 89-82, 88-83, and 86-85.
Norman, who resides in Decatur, Georgia, fought to a no-contest against Janelson Figueroa in his previous fight on March 2. On November 16, Norman defeated Quinton Randall in a clash of unbeaten fringe contenders.
The 23-year-old is trained by his father and former fighter, Brian Norman, Sr. and co-managed by Jolene Mizzone and Adrian Clark.
Santillan falls to 31-1, 17 KOs. In his previous fight on October 21, Santillan stopped contender Alexis Rocha in the sixth round. Entering the Norman fight, Santillan was ranked No. 1 by the WBO.
The 32-year-old is trained by Robert Garcia and had fought under the Top Rank banner since 2021.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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