COSTA MESA, Calif. – Giovani Santillan remained unbeaten Saturday night, breaking down Jeovanis Barraza until the fight was stopped in the seventh round.

Santillan, who resides in nearby San Diego, improves to 29-0, 16 knockouts.

From the opening bell, Santillan was the aggressor, putting Barraza on the defensive or having to fight off his back foot. Barraza attempted to mount an offense, but Santillan never gave him any opportunity to put punches together.

As the fight progressed, Santillan’s punches began to take their toll. Barraza’s punch output dropped after each passing round, mostly throwing arm punches.

The southpaw Santillan continued his assault into the middle rounds, also attacking the body of Barraza. After the end of the sixth round, the ringside physician checked on Barraza, who looked spent as he slouched on his stool.

Barraza did stand toe-to-toe with Santillan to open the seventh round, but a barrage of punches to the head stunned Barraza, prompting referee Thomas Taylor to step in and stop the fight at 33 seconds, bringing cheers from the partisan crowd inside The Hangar at the OC Fair and Event Center.

The win over Barraza took place almost six months after Santillan, who is now co-trained by Robert Garcia, defeated Angel Ruiz by unanimous decision.

Santillan is co-promoted by Top Rank and Thompson Boxing Promotions.

Barraza, who resides in Barranquilla, Colombia, drops to 23-3, 15 KOs. He has split his last six bouts.  

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

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