San Diego's Giovani Santillan (19-0, 10 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Jose De Jesus Macias of Mexico in a scheduled eight round bout Friday night at Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California the Thompson Boxing "Path to Glory" main event.
Santillan dropped Macias in the second round with a counter right hook, and took control of the fight against the tough Macias in route to a decision win.
Judges scores the bout 80-72, 79-72, 78-73 as Giovani Santillan stays undefeated at 19-0, 10 KO's. Jesus Macias goes to 18-6-2, 9 KO's.
In the six-round co-feature, lightweight Jose Roman (22-1-1, 15 KOs) scored a second round TKO over Jose Angel Martinez (14-9-1, 9 KOs). Early in the second, the pair clashed heads, which led to both suffering cuts.
Roman shrugged off the bump, but Martinez was slower to his feet and Roman took advantage. He peppered Martinez with a wall of punches, knocking him out at the 1:06 mark of the second round.
In what was largely a technical fight, Carlos Carlson (21-1, 11 KOs), the No. 14 rankedbantamweight by the WBC, delivered another smooth performance by out boxing Giovanni Caro (23-18-4, 19 KOs) through six rounds.
Carlson, who fights out of Tijuana, Mex., frequently targeted the body with his power left hook. The routine body shots sapped the energy out of Caro, who is based in Mexico City, Mex. Carlson cruised to a unanimous decision win with scores 60-54 twice, 59-55.
In a good old-fashioned slugfest, featherweight Erick Ituarte (13-1-1, 2 KOs) of Santa Ana, Calif. used a relentless attack to stymie Fernando Fuentes (7-7, 1 KO) of Hemet, Calif.
In the first, Ituarte dropped Fuentes with a two-punch combination. Fuentes, for his part, never backed down from the free-throwing Ituarte. Ituarte, however, proved too accurate for the oft back-pedaling Fuentes. Official scores for Ituarte read: 60-53, 57-56, 58-55.
Lightweight Manuel Mendez (10-1-1, 6 KOs) earned a tougher than expected knockout win over stubborn veteran Jose Araiza (34-16-1, 25 KOs). Mendez, fighting out of Indio, Calif. and trained by Joel Diaz, hit pay dirt during the final minute of the fourth and final round. He power-punched the Mexico-based Araiza from corner-to-corner until referee Ray Corona halted the punishment at the 2:18 mark.
Opening the "Path to Glory" card were lightweights Cesar Villarraga (9-1, 4 KOs) of Colombia and Hugo Padilla (2-6, 1 KO) of Mexico. Villarraga dominated the four-round fight from start-to-finish by using superior hand speed and a stingy defense. All three judges scored the fight for Villarraga, 40-36.