American welterweights Alexis Rocha and Giovani Santillan came into the ring with different expectations weighing on them, but it was Santillan who left the boxing ring as the surprising winner after knocking out Rocha in the sixth round of the twelve-round fight. Their match featured as the main event at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, on October 21st.
With both fighters hailing from the state of California, their bout was even more significant for the welterweight division as a whole, as both domestic and global recognition seemed to be guaranteed for the winner.
Alexis Rocha (23-2, 15 KO’s) came in as the defending champion of his WBO NABO (North American Boxing Organization) title against his fellow Californian, Giovani Santillan (32-0, 17 KO’s). Rocha, the #1 WBO welterweight contender prior to this match, was highly expected to win, with oddsmakers leaving Santillan with little to no chance of winning.
However, October 21st would signal the rise of a new yet unexpected welterweight contender with Santillan earning all the bragging rights and attention following a devastating and shocking sixth-round win over the favorite Alexis Rocha.
The first round showed a sign of what was to come. Both fighters were aggressive, not bothering to spare their punches early in the fight, and there were several exchanges between them that belied the fact they were still in the first round. During the latter portion of the round, Santillan seemed to have found the most success and took the lead by a clear margin after causing Rocha’s nose to bleed.
The second round also seemed to fall in favor of Giovani Santillan who caught onto Rocha’s apparent nose injury and capitalized to fight up close where Rocha seemed to clearly struggle on the night. While Alexis Rocha wasn’t bereft of activity, Santillan was clearly more efficient in the pocket, and despite Rocha’s own forward-going approach, most of the success during the round went to Santillan―though Rocha also did well when he could find some distance between him and his opponent.
Giovani Santillan seemed to hold onto the lead in the following rounds, his work ethic and inside fighting approach clearly paying off as the fifth round eventually saw him find the most success. During the first half minute of the fifth round, Santillan dropped Rocha during an exchange where Rocha had been forced to cover himself.
Continuing on from that point, Santillan worked to the utmost of his ability to put Rocha out, and eventually dropped Rocha gai the last minute. As the round was heading to a closure, Santillan’s assault continued but Rocha somehow held off the fellow Californian’s pressure to last long enough.
The sixth round proved to be the decisive round. Santillan, confident of the success he found, did not change his approach in the slightest but Alexis Rocha seemed to have a spurt of energy himself in the first minute which kept Santillan at bay for the time being. However, close to the half point of the round Santillan retaliated with his own short but powerful combinations which dropped Rocha for the third time.
Falling on his knees again, the referee decided to wave the match off after surmising that Rocha had taken too much damage, and Santillan won the match by knockout―according to California State Athletic rules― as a result.
It was a terrific performance from Giovani Santillan who had come in as the underdog, and left as a winner and with Alexis Rocha’s WBO NABO welterweight title.
Rocha, concurrently, will be heavily disappointed with his loss against an opponent he was expected to beat, and quite easily at that. His loss has now put his own potential title challenge in question as Santillan will likely move onto the #1 spot on the WBO’s welterweight rankings.
Giovani Santillan’s win is a momentous moment for his career, given he has not only stepped up in competition but beat a potential world title challenger in Alexis Rocha who was regarded as the best contender on the rankings of at least one sanctioning body.
As it stands, Santillan is still unbeaten, and can be considered one of the highest-rated welterweight contenders following his victory over Rocha; a significant position that may land him a title opportunity given how close Rocha himself had been to fighting current undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s)―who at that point only had the WBO title in his grasp.
The rest of the event, promoted by Golden Boy, featured several other notable contenders or even world champions battling it out against their respective opponents.
American super flyweight John Ramirez (13-0, 9 KO’s) rose higher up the ladder after a KO victory over Panamanian contender Ronal Batista (15-4, 9 KO’s). The 27-year-old seems to be in the prime position now for his next challenge; a world title. Though there currently exist four different world champions in the division, the American appears ready to take his career to the next level and seems to have developed the ability to stack up against the elite of his division―champion or not.
The fight card also featured a world title match between IBF women’s flyweight champion Arely Muciño (32-4-2, 11 KO’s) and American contender Gabriel Fundora (12-0, 5 KO’s), younger sister of the previous WBC interim super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KO’s).
Mexican champion Muciño, 34, failed to stop the rise of Fundora despite her vast experience in the sport, and the 21-year old American stormed to a fifth-round knockout victory over Muciño, allowing Fundora to become the IBF world champion of the flyweight division.
Fundora’s victory now puts her in the crosshairs of fellow American Marlen Esparza (14-1, 1 KO’s) who holds the remainder of the other three titles as the unified champion of the flyweight division. In the case of a potential fight, Gabriel Fundora has numerous advantages on her side, including age―being thirteen years younger than Esparza, similar to when she fought Muciño. Yet, a potential fight with Esparza will be her toughest challenge to date, and one that carries as many rewards as it carries risks.
