Brian Norman Jr. takes on Giovani Santillan during their bloody interim title clash. Photo by German Villasenor
SAN DIEGO – Fighting in the birthplace of his opponents as an underdog, Brian Norman could not 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 battled inside from the opening bell, exchanging hooks and crosses. Norman spent most of the first two rounds with his back to the ropes, but did well to fight inside, including uppercuts to the head.
At the start of the third round, a cut appeared above Santillan’s left eye, although it was unclear whether it was a punch or an accidental clash of heads that opened the cut. Both fought long distances in that round, each landing their share of punches. Santillan threw and landed left crosses to the head, while Norman connected with a series of right hands and right crosses to the head.
A series of straight left hands snapped Norman’s head back in the fifth round. It was in that round that Santillan began to focus on attacking Norman’s body. Undaunted, Norman fought back, countering with a right to Santillan’s head late in the round.
Giovanni Santillan dished out his share of punishment during his brutal fight with Brian Norman Jr. Photo by German Villasenor
At the start of the seventh round, Norman found success early trading, throwing and landing straight right hands and left hooks to the head. Towards the end of the round, Norman was able to go outside and outstrip Santillan on the inside.
Norman nearly dropped Santillan with a left combination to the head about a minute into the round. The punch backed Santillan against the ropes, where Norman tried to follow. Blood started gushing out of Santillan’s nose.
Blood continued to flow from Santillan’s nose in the ninth round. Norman went down with Santillan, who looked exhausted from the number of punches he was taking, and, possibly, from the amount of blood that kept coming out of his nose.
About a minute into the 10th round, a left combination, followed by a right uppercut dropped Santillan to the canvas. Santillan hit the count and tried to fight back but was dropped again on the canvas with a right hand, left uppercut to the head. Referee Ray Corona immediately stopped the fight at 1:33.
Brian Norman Jr. took over in Round 8 and bloodied Giovani Santillan in Round 9 before ending matters in Round 10. Photo by German Villasenor
At the time of the stoppage, Norman was leading on all three judges’ scorecards, 89-82, 88-83, and 86-85.
Norman, who lives in Decatur, Georgia, defended his undefeated streak against Janelson Figueroa in his previous fight on March 2. On November 16, Norman defeated Quinton Randall in a battle of undefeated contenders.
The 23-year-old is trained by his father and former fighter, Brian Norman, Sr. and is owned by Jolene Mizzone and Adrian Clark.
Santillan falls to 31-1, 17 KOs. In his last fight on October 21, Santillan stopped rival Alexis Rocha in the sixth round. Going into the Norman fight, Santillan was ranked number 1 by the WBO.
The 32-year-old is trained by Robert Garcia and has been fighting under the Top Rank banner since 2021.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
