Devin Haney dominates in first title defense!
In the co-main event of KSI v Logan Paul 2, WBC world lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (24-0, 15 KO’s) made a successful first defense of his belt.
For the first half of the bout, his opponent, Alfredo “Ojo” Santiago (12-1, 4 KO’s), was very competitive. However, he would steadily drop-off during the second half.
THE BREAKDOWN
Throughout the first three rounds, the action was very tit-for-tat. Ojo’s reach and somewhat awkward style was forcing Haney to think and fight with respect. Nevertheless, The Dream was able to clearly control the bout behind his stiff popping jab.
There was a clear shift in momentum during the fourth period. It was during this round that Haney began landing hard, thudding body shots with consistent regularity.
The concentrated shots to the torso had Santiago looking a hair flat for the first time in the match. The Dream’s increased success rolled over into the fifth round.
In the fifth, Haney dropped Santiago with a nasty right uppercut that left the Dominican badly shaken. Ojo was lucky that the knockdown came toward the end of the round because it looked as if he barely survived the damaging 3-minutes.
Unfortunately for the fans in attendance, Haney was not able to continue his destructive ways in the sixth.
While The Dream could not stop Santiago, his vicious body assault continued throughout the sixth and seventh rounds. A low blow briefly brought the action to a halt in the ninth round.
However, by this time, Santiago was fighting more to survive than to actually win. Throughout the tenth stanza, Ojo gratuitously held and remained tightly clamped to The Dream well after the referee stepped into break them.
The holding increased in the eleventh. With so many rounds in the bank, and having badly swelled Santiago’s left eye, Devin “The Dream” Haney pretty much went through the motions during the final round.
When the fight went to the scorecards Haney took all twelve rounds on each.
During his post-fight interview, he first re-expressed his interest in securing a fight with the former WBC lightweight champion turned ‘franchise champion’ Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Yet when asked about fellow young gun Ryan Garcia, Haney let it be known that’s a fight he’d like to contract sooner rather than later.
By: Bakari Simpson
