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Walter Santibanes Defeats Manuel Flores
Via Unanimous Decision
The pride of the Coachella Valley, Manuel “Gucci Manny”
Flores (15-1, 11 KOs), put his undefeated record on the line
by taking on Walter Santibanes (12-2, KOs) of Phoenix, AZ,
in his first-ever Golden Boy Fight Night on DAZN headliner.
Flores put himself on display as he aggressively pursued
Santibanes and visibly rocked him in the second round.
However, Santibanes was happy to return with powerful
uppercuts and body shots that challenged the Coachella
favorite. Santibanes continued to show off his strength,
dominating the action in the following rounds, connecting
combinations to the head and body. The 10-round bantamweight
fight went the distance, with each fighter delivering a
brave and entertaining performance to a boisterous crowd at
Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. The judges ruled in favor of
Santibanes with scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91, awarding
him a victory via unanimous decision.
“I showed nothing but respect to Manny, to my team, to the
crowd tonight,” said Walter Santibanes. “I know the crowd is
not in my favor, but I came to do my job. I try to work hard
in the gym, and this is what I have to do; this is my job. I
want to go down to 115 lbs, but I’ll fight whomever they
throw at me at any weight. I’ll fight anyone.”
“We’re going back to the drawing board,” said Manny Flores.
“We didn’t get the victory today, so we have to go back,
adjust and work to come back stronger.”
In the co-main event of the night, female boxing veteran and
former two-division world champion Jelena Mrdjenovich
(42-12-4, 19 KOs) of Hay River, Canada returned to the ring
to face former world title contender of Santiago, Colombia,
Calista “Cali” Silgado (21-17-4, 16 KOs). The scheduled
10-round featherweight event went the distance, with both
fighters aggressively pursuing each other throughout the
fight. Ultimately, the judges ruled in favor of Mrdjenovich,
with scores of 95-95, 97-93, and 96-94, giving the former
world champion a victory by majority decision.
“My performance today was what I needed; it was a tough
fight, it was a lot of action,” said Jelena Mrdjenovich. “I
wish I would have started a little bit more aggressive
earlier and kind of got a little bit of the ring rest out.
It’s been since September since I’ve been in the ring and,
and, you know, getting my feet wet and I think we showed
some really good things. I’m looking forward to showing
people action packed fights. So really thankful to the fans
down here and really thankful to Golden Boy for the
opportunity.”
Undefeated fighter “Junebug” Daniel Garcia (6-0, 5 KOs) of
Denver, CO faced off against Yucatan, Mexico’s Luis “El Duro”
May (22-17-1, 8 KOs) in a scheduled 6-round lightweight
fight. A right cross early in the first round sent Luis May
to the canvas with 1:13 left in the round. Unable to get up,
the referee waved the fight off, awarding Garcia another
knockout to his record.
“I want to thank all my fans, managers, sponsors, and
coaches for the opportunity,” said Daniel Garcia. “You don’t
really expect to get the knock out, you go to in the ring
with a plan. But after the jab I threw a right hand cross
and it landed. My plan was to use my jab to set up
everything. It’s the best punch in boxing, you learn that at
a young age. I am just going to enjoy my time and get ready
for the next opportunity.”
Sonora, Mexico’s Gael “El Terror” Cabrera (1-0, 1 KO), made
his professional debut against Ulises Rosales (0-7), of
Tijuana, Mexico, in a scheduled 4-round featherweight bout.
The fight was waved off at the 1:29 marker of the first
round after Rosales hit the canvas twice after being hit
with a body shot in the left side of the body. Cabrera was
crowned the winner via knockout in his first professional
event.
“I was nervous to be fighting on such a big stage, in front
of a big crowd and cameras, but once I stepped into the
dressing room, I knew I needed to perform and fight like I
have in my past fights as an amateur,” said Gael Cabrera.
“Today was the beginning of my professional career and I am
looking forward to continuing this journey.”
In the opening fight of the night, Patricio “El Cacahuate”
Manuel (3-0), of Los Angeles, CA faced Lake Elsinore’s
Alexander Gutierrez (0-2) in a 4-round lightweight fight.
The fight featured lively exchanges between both fighters,
with Patricio Manuel eager to dominate the action. Manuel
effectively used his jab to set up body shots, slowing down
Gutierrez throughout the event and awarding him the victory
via unanimous decision with scores of 40-36 from all three
judges.
“You know, I wasn’t super happy with my performance today. I
was just thinking more of putting a power shot in rather
than listening to my corner and adding more combinations,”
said Patricio Manuel. “I feel like towards the end of the
fight in the last round I started to get more comfortable
and finally started to listen to my corner and adding more
combinations, but it’s a four round fight. I need to make
sure that I get there sooner. But, you know, at the end of
the day, I’m happy that I got a win. And most importantly,
this is where I had my pro debut and people booed me the
first time because of who I am. And today it was obviously a
different reaction, they cheered for me, so that is a
victory. I think the boxing community has seen that I didn’t
just come here for one show. I’m here as a fighter. I’ve
dedicated more than half my life to this sport. And I think
it shows every time I step in the room.”
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