DeMarco v Santillian
After going ten full rounds, the up and coming welterweight Giovani “Gallo de Oro” Santillan (26-0, 15 KO’s) narrowly defeated former lightweight champion Antonio “Tony” DeMarco (33-9-1, 24 KO’s) by way of majority decision.
Despite claiming the meaningful victory, Santillan displayed a number of holes in his fight game. Holes such as not moving his head enough and throwing repetitive punch combinations were prevalent. However, Santillan was able to apply great pressure and land crunching hooks with regularity.
During the middle rounds, DeMarco put a great deal of energy in walking Santillan down with mixed success. At times, DeMarco was able to frustrate, out-land and dig to Gallo de Oro’s body, while at others he was only whacked in his face for his troubles.
About the seventh round, DeMarco begins changing tactics a bit by moving backwards and allowing Santillan to come into his wheel house. When he commenced fighting in this fashion, DeMarco began living on the ropes. Perhaps it was this single alteration in fighting styles that cost him the victory.
With neither boxer being able to put the other down or clearly dominate for long periods of time, two of the three judges gave the benefit of the doubt, and the win, to Giovani Santillan. The third judge had a draw. Some people, such as the ESPN commentating crew, will dispute the legitimacy of the win. The compubox stats also had DeMarco landing at a significantly higher rate.
In the post-interview, Santillan expressed the need to iron out some of the wrinkles in his fight game. It will be telling to see who the title-minded boxer takes on next in his next outing.
By: Bakari Simpson
