Giovani Santillan’s quest to become only the second San Diego-born world champion in history was denied Saturday by a tremendous performance from Brian Norman Jr. of Atlanta.
Santillan suffered his first professional loss at Pechanga Arena fighting while compromised by a serious cut above his left eye. The cut opened midway through the fight, bleeding badly and turning the bout into a bloody brawl.
Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) and Santillan (32-1, 17 KOs) delivered an all-action fight over 10 hard rounds for a thrilled crowd, then Norman Jr. scored two knockdowns in quick succession.
That prompted referee Ray Corona to put a stop to the fight at 1:39 of the 10th round.
Afterward, Santillan circled the ring, saluting the fans who had supported him throughout. As a precaution, he was taken to a local hospital.
With his victory, Norman Jr. won the World Boxing Organization interim world welterweight championship. He is likely to be elevated to full championship status after the current champion, Terence Crawford of Omaha, Neb., moves up to the next weight division in his fight scheduled for Aug. 3.
In the main event, Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) won the second boxing championship of the day for his native Ukraine, defeating the favored Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico (38-2-1, 31 KOs) to capture the vacant WBO World Lightweight title by split decision.
The scores were 116-112 and 115-113 for Berinchyk, and 116-112 for Navarrete.
“This is great, my friend. This is great. Great boxing. Great fight. Navarrete, muchas gracias,” said Berinchyk after his victory.
Fighting for the first time in the lightweight division, Navarrete lacked his usual speed and snap. He struggled to gain momentum, often swinging wildly while trading punches with the Ukrainian. The power he relied on in the lower-weight divisions wasn’t there, and he didn’t make up for it in volume against Berinchyk.
“It was something new for me,” said Navarrete. “Like I always said, it would be difficult. Denys is a great fighter. He made me struggle a lot. And you saw what happened. But I’m happy with how I fought. I know that I need to improve.”
Berinchyk, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, took inspiration from the victory earlier in the day by countryman Oleksandr Usyk, who became the new undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Supported by Ukrainian champion and former champion boxers Serhii Bohachuk, Sergiy Dereyanchenko and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Berinchyk pressed Navarrete and never let up.
In earlier action, heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. also delivered a knockout victory after five thrilling rounds against a tough Brandon Moore of Lakeland, Fla.
Torrez Jr. of Tulare (10-0, 10 KOs) went aggressively after the much taller Moore (14-1, 8 KOs). Torrez Jr., the 2020 Olympic silver medalist, used his amateur experience to avoid Moore’s offensive effort and eventually get the better of a tough opponent.
Flashy junior lightweight phenom Emiliano Vargas of Las Vegas (10-0, 8 KOs) stopped Angel Varela of Sonora, Mexico (10-3, 7 KOs) with a sixth-round TKO after Corona decided Varela had taken too much punishment to continue.
Vargas, 20, is trained by his father, popular former champion Fernando Vargas.
Note: Please see Boxer Mansour of La Mesa Wins Pro Debut for a report on another bout on Saturday’s undercard.