Santillan KO's Rocha, who loses mandatory status in slugfest
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.
Welterweight contender Giovani Santillan was coming off a shaky win in his previous fight and facing highly regarded Alexis Rocha on his home turf as the underdog and the B side.
But Santillan was unfazed by any of it. All he did was author a bloody, one-sided beatdown.
Santillan scored three knockdowns en route to an upset sixth-round knockout victory in the action-packed main event of the Golden Boy card on Saturday night on DAZN at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
While Santillan scored by far his career-best win, Rocha suffered a debilitating loss. He came into the fight as the WBO mandatory challenger to undisputed 147-pound champion Terence Crawford, for whom he stepped aside to allow his July fight with Errol Spence Jr. to be for all four major belts. But that guaranteed title shot evaporated in a haze of blood and knockdowns.
Upgrade to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and help support independent journalism
ncG1vNJzZmickaO%2ForLAnqNnq6WXwLWtwqRlnKedZL1wv8Cnq6KknJa7brfOrGSrp5Odrm7Dx6hkpaejmsBuucCnm5qsn6fG