Paul “The Punisher” Kroll Survives A Scare!

Paul Kroll had to dig deep for the victory

Normally in boxing, you don’t see two hot prospects fight each other early in their careers. So on FS1, fans were in for a treat as rising welterweights Lucas Santamaria (11-1, 7ko) and Paul “The Punisher” Kroll (7-0, 6ko) squared off in the ring.

Both fighters are no strangers to these types of moments. The California native, Santamaria, caught the eyes of the boxing community upsetting another prospect in Mykal “The Professor” Fox (22-2, 5ko) back in August. The Philadelphia fighter, “The Punisher”, took the zero of Shinard Bunch (9-1, 8ko) back in 2019.

This fight started off as a normal feel-out as both men were looking to establish their game plan. The more aggressive Kroll was using the jab to gauge distance and was finding success with the counter right-hand. However, Santamaria was switching from orthodox to southpaw and was having success with the straight left-hand. He also remained the busier fighter, throwing punches in combinations.

The second round of the fight was the biggest scare for the Philadelphia fighter, who almost went down from a brutal shot to the liver. It took all he had to survive.

THE MIDDLE ROUNDS

The California boxer was finding his groove landing the straight left-hand to the body from the southpaw position and the combination punches were keeping his opponent off balance. Furthermore, avoiding the counter right-hand, he was able to pressure The Punisher in the corner landing good body shots.

Kroll was able to have some success with the counter-right uppercut, but was looking to land only one big shot while still trying to be the aggressor.

CLOSING IT OUT STRONG

Trainer Greg Hackett was pleading with his fighter from Philadelphia to step it up, and it appeared that he was listening in the closing rounds. The punisher started pressuring his opponent.

Trapping the California fighter in the corner, landing combination punches to both the body and head. Moreover, he was able to regain a home for that counter right-hand again and from the southpaw stance, landed a straight left. Santamaria was not ready to be counted out, although he was slowing down a little. However, he was able to land a few good body shots of his own.

As the final bell sounded, win or lose, both fighters showed why we need to see more prospects fighting each other as this was an exciting fight bout.
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The scorecards from two of the judges scored it 99-91, and one judges saw it 96-94 for the Punisher, improving his record to 8-0.

3kingsboxing scored it 96-94, but this could have easily been a draw.

By: Garrisson Bland

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