Like a boxer patiently stalking his opponent and looking for a knockout blow, undefeated welterweight Giovani Santillan has been seeking a world championship title shot for years.
On Saturday night at Pechanga Arena, San Diego’s “Gallo de Oro” finally gets one. Along with it, the fighter has a chance to carve out a spot in San Diego sports history.
Santillan (32-0,17 KOs) will face Brian Norman Jr. (25-0,19 KOs) for the vacant WBO interim welterweight title in a scheduled 12-round bout. Win, and Santillan will become the second San Diego native to ever hold a world championship belt. The first, “Kid Ultimate” Paul Vaden, won the IBF 154-pound title in 1995. Boxing legends Archie Moore and Ken Norton lived in San Diego, but weren’t born here.
Sanitillan, a Mira Mesa High School graduate who works out and teaches at The BXNG Club in East Village, is coming off a sixth-round knockout victory over Alexis Rocha in October.
The 147-pound belt was recently vacated by reigning division champ Terence Crawford since his next fight is at 154 pounds. Should he win, Crawford is then expected to line up a “super” fight against Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds.
For the 32-year-old Santillan, Saturday marks a chance to claim a title belt in a bout carried live on ESPN, earn a nice purse and position himself for more title shots in what looks like a wide-open division now that Crawford has moved up in weight class.
The No. 1 ranked WBO contender, Santillan is ranked No. 4 in the welterweight division by Ring magazine, No. 5 by BoxRec.com and No. 9 by ESPN.
“That’s why this fight is so big for me,” Santillan said. “(Norman is) an up-and-coming undefeated guy. I’m sure he’s hungry to take what I have right now. I need to hold onto my spot and give a great performance. Get this guy outta there, knock him out. If not that, then a decision where I win clean and look great. That type of performance will get me to the point where they can’t deny my world title shots.”
A 23-year old Georgia native, Norman is the No. 10 WBO contender. He is coming off a no-contest performance against Janelson Figueroa Bocachia in March after both fighters suffered nasty cuts.
The Santillan/Norman Jr. bout will precede the card’s main event, a WBO lightweight title fight between Mexican Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1,31 KOs) and Ukrainian Denys Berinchyk (18-0,9 KOs).
Navarrete, who owns a pair of wins at Pechanga Arena, is attempting to become a rare four-division World Champion. He previously won WBO junior featherweight, WBO featherweight and WBO junior lightweight belts.
The nine-fight card also includes the professional debut of 23-year old San Diegan Jonny Mansour in a four-round lightweight bout against Angel Duo and an intriguing eight-round heavyweight fight between rising contender and 2020 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr. (9-0, 9 KOs) and Brandon Moore (14-0, 8 KOs).
Santillan learned that his fight was upgraded to championship status Thursday morning and reacted to the news in typical calm, understated fashion. Along with his father and trainer Guillermo, he’s been preparing for this moment since turning pro in 2012 after a long and successful amateur career.
A southpaw, Santillan owns a pair of wins at Pechanga — decisions over Julio Luna in 2022 and Angel Ruiz Astorga in 2021.
Winning a belt in San Diego would be fitting.
“I’ve been looking forward to something like this happening since my first fight at Pechanga San Diego back in 2021,” Santillan said. “I”ve been saying that I wanted to bring world title fights for myself here in San Diego. Me being born and raised here, it’s an honor for this to happen. I’m excited … I’m ready.”
Carter is a freelance writer.
