| |
|
|
Alejandro Santiago Survives Spirited Effort
From Countryman Willibaldo Garcia
Promoter Paco Damian of Paco Presents promised a night of
action and delivered in spades last night (Monday, September
21, 2020) in Tijuana as he, Don Chargin Productions and
Fabrica De Campeones presented their “SANTIAGO VS. GARCIA”
event via livestream on FITE.TV and Global Sports Streaming
(GSS).
In the main event, former world title challenger and WBC #8
bantamweight Alejandro “Peque” Santiago survived an all-out
spirited challenge from countryman Willibaldo Garcia to
successfully defend his WBC International Bantamweight
Championship via 10-round majority decision.
Known for pulling off surprising upsets against heavily
favored opposition, Santiago quickly found himself in danger
of suffering the same kind of loss against the free-swinging
and apparently tireless Garcia. Staying poised, Santiago
(22-2-5, 11 KOs) picked his shots and was able to do the
more effective work in a majority of the action-packed
rounds.
Despite his now 10-4-1, 5 KOs record, Garcia, of Copala,
Guerrero, Mexico, made a strong account of himself. Throwing
non-stop wild haymakers from awkward angles for all 10
rounds, he made the world-rated Santiago earn his pay. By
the final round, Santiago was cut above one eye and marked
up around the other.
To his credit, Santiago made adjustments throughout and put
together eye-popping combinations several times per-round.
The scores were 97-94 and 96-94 Santiago. The third judge
saw it a draw, 95-95.
In a thrilling co-main event war, Victor “Chucky” Sandoval
of Tijuana moved his impressive record to 34-3 (22 KOs) with
a last-second tenth-round TKO of a determined Kevin
Villanueva (16-3-3 (12 KOs).
Moving in and out skillfully, Sandoval was able to unload
bomb after bomb against the seemingly impervious Villanueva.
Guasave, Sinaloa’s Villanueva walked through the hellacious
fire to land bombs of his own in an attempt to pressure and
wear down his more technically gifted opponent.
With Sandoval seemingly cruising to a comfortable, but not
easy, decision victory, he finally broke through the iron
jaw of Villanueva, trapping him in the corner and unloading
the finishing volley with 10 seconds left in the fight.
The thrilling victory gained Sandoval the vacant WBC
International Silver Super Flyweight title.
Super featherweight Cristian "Lacandonsito" Cruz (13-5, 6
KOs) of Tijuana continued his now 11-fight winning streak
and looked very impressive while beating countryman Diego
“FlaKO” Aleman (12-2-1, 8 KOs) by unanimous eight-round
decision.
Cruz, the son of former IBO and IBF Featherweight Champion
Cristóbal “Lacandón” Cruz, utilized his hand and foot speed
to move in and out of danger while throwing hard
combinations. He dropped Aleman twice while cruising to an
80-70, 78-72 and 79-71 verdict.
23-year-old Cruz got off to a rough start in his career but
looks to have done the homework needed to become a
legitimate prospect at super feather.
In the opening bout of the night, Los Mochis, Sinaloa’s
Bryan Luna moved to (6-0, 3 KOs) with a unanimous shutout
decision over Ensenada, Baja California Felipe Ayon (now
1-1-1, 1 KO). The scores were 40-36 from all three judges in
a bout that was more exciting than the scores indicate.
|
|
|
