ONTARIO, California – It wasn’t pretty but unbeaten junior welterweight Giovanni Santillan did what was necessary to grind out an eight-round unanimous decision victory over Omar Tienda.

The southpaw Santillan has earned his keep as a solid prospect amongst the many fighters that come out of the Thompson Boxing Promotions stable. He has demonstrated his ability to outbox or stop his opponents in previous fights.

Friday night was different, however, as the near-sellout crowd at the Doubletree Hotel Events Center saw a determined effort by a game, albeit limited, Tienda.

Santillan was at his best on the outside but Tienda bull-rushed his way forward at times in an attempt to land roundhouse right hands or hooks to the body. Tienda did have some success although Santillan was able to find space to score, especially with left uppercuts to the head.

Tienda attempted to set up straight or overhand right hands to the head but was put firmly on the defensive whenever Santillan unleashed his combinations.

Both fighters traded vicious punches in the seventh and eighth, however it was Santillan that landed the more-telling blows.

All three judges scored the bout 80-72. With the win, Santillan improves to 21-0 (11 knockouts). Tienda falls to 18-4 (11 KOs).

Undercard

In the co-feature, junior lightweight Erick Ituarte won an eight-round unanimous decision over Naciff Castillo.

After Ituarte built an early lead, the southpaw Castillo began to press the action in the fourth round. He found success, walking Ituarte down and connecting with straight left hands to the head.

The rally was short-lived, however, as Castillo’s punch output had dropped considerably by Round 7.

Opting to box from the outside, rather than trade, Ituarte countered his opponent effectively for the remainder of the contest.

Scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73. Ituarte improves to 16-1-1 (2 KOs), while Castillo drops to 19-10-2 (7 KOs).

Unbeaten featherweight prospect Ruben Villa IV, 4-0 (2 KOs), claimed a one-sided decision over Francisco Camacho. The southpaw Villa, who has two victories in the amateur ranks over Shakur Stevenson, landed at will against the game Camacho (2-7-1, 1 KO) throughout most of the bout. All three judges scored 40-36 in his favor.

Hard-hitting junior featherweight prospect Michael Dutchover (3-0, 3 KOs) scored a devastating one-punch knockout of Jose Mora (0-3) in Round 1. A counter left hook dropped Mora flat onto his back, prompting referee Raul Caiz, Jr. to immediately stop the bout at 2:07.

In a battle of unbeaten junior lightweights, Rudy Garcia improved to 5-0 (1 KO) with a four-round unanimous decision over David Martino (2-1, 2 KOs). All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Garcia.

Junior welterweight Francisco Armenta won a four-round unanimous decision Cody Peterson (1-2). Scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Armenta, who was making his professional debut.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing 

Struggling to locate a copy of RING magazine? Try here or…

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to the print and digital editions of RING magazine by clicking the banner or here. You can also order the current issue, which is on newsstands, or back issues from our subscribe page. On the cover this month: THE RING 2016 Fighter of the Year, Carl Frampton.