Post Fight interview with Ernesto Dallas of Team Santana

Ernesto Dallas, Manager/Advisor to Spanish Harlem based Puerto Rican Jr. Welterweight prospect Edgar Santana 21-2(13), recently checked in with Boxingtalk to give us his take on this weekend’s fight against rugged veteran Dario Esalas on the Sultan Ibragimov-Javier Mora undercard Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, as well as fill us in on a potential summer match up with Arturo “Thunder” Gatti 40-8(31). Read on as Dallas fills us in…

RC: Ernesto Congratulations on the victory. You fighter, Edgar Santana fought this past Saturday night on the under card of Ibragimov-Mora under card at Madison Square Garden. Give us your thoughts on his performance?
ED: Thank you.  It was a tough fight. This kid Dario Esalas came to fight, we knew it was going to be tough because of his experience and he has been in there with some good opponents, and honestly it was tougher than I anticipated. But I am proud of Edgar’s performance. Personally I thought he was a little bit too much on the ropes. When he was in the middle of the ring he dominated the fight. It was good work; it was a good step up with good experience. The guy made him work, the guy came to fight he didn’t come to be a slouch and just get a payday. So it was a tough performance, but good rounds for Santana to gain some more experience. So overall I was happy with his performance.

RC: Now automatically, anyone that wasn’t at the fight that takes a look at the split decision scores of 77-75 across the board, with two judges giving Santana the nod, and the other giving Esalas the nod. Many probably automatically think Santana was in a really tough fight that he probably just got the hometown nod, with scores like that. Do you think that might hurt his (Santana) stock a little bit?
ED: People who are fans of boxing always have high expectations of boxers, and they always want explosive spectacular one sided performances, and that is just not the reality on the way it works out. Whenever you step a kid up who is a prospect, you can expect him not to always shine, but what I found out with Santana is that every time we step up and take on a different type of opponent, he may not look as spectacular as people want, but those are the rounds where he gains experience, and when he fights again he will look super explosive. It was the same case when he fought Barrientes, and the southpaw (Khodokovski). Those fights went the distance, and they weren’t super explosive performances, but then he learned from those fights and when we fought Meacher Major, we blew him out. So I think the same thing is going to happen here. Esalas gave us some tough rounds, Santana learned a lot in there and this fight is just going to make him better, and that’s what we want. We want guys that are going to give him rounds and going to make him better. His stock is still high, Lou DiBella is still high on him, and we are going to keep him busy, he is going to fight again in May so this is just another stepping stone for him.

RC: Can you give a more detailed idea of some of the things that are next on the agenda for Santana?
ED: Right now they want to give us another Broadway boxing main event, which I am very happy about; Santana is going to take a quick break and then head back to the gym. But what I really want this summer, and Edgar want it, we want to fight Arturo Gatti.

RC: I believe the date that they are reserving for Arturo Gatti is July 14th, has there been any formal talks about actually making that fight happen?
ED: This is how I see it, Gatti is looking for one more opponent for his fight in July, they haven’t decided who, they mentioned the names of Dmitriy Salita and Paul Malignaggi and those guys are our stable mates, and since they are being considered, I don’t see why Santana shouldn’t be considered as well. I already told Carl Moretti and I told Lou DiBella that Edgar Santana is willing to step up. Again, it is a very big step up but we want to step up against Arturo Gatti and take that fight this summer.

RC: Despite the obvious, that Gatti is on the tail end of his career. What are some of the things you feel Santana will be able to take advantage of and be successful against Gatti?
ED: Here is the thing, if they are considering Salita who I don’t think will make it out of the first round with Arturo Gatti, and if HBO and Lou DiBella was willing to present him, which he willl pose no challenge to Arturo Gatti, Edgar Santana as we know is a very good Boxer-Puncher, will give Gatti some work. I think Stylistically, Paul Malignaggi will give anybody problems because of his speed and his jab. But Arturo Gatti and Paulie Malignaggi has a big brother, little brother Italian bond that I don’t think they are going to break for the fight. So since they are still looking for an opponent, I think Edgar Santana will be competitive in there with Arturo Gatti. It’s a huge step up, as Arturo Gatti still remains and extremely dangerous fight but Santana's stock is rising and I think that Gatti’s Sun is started to set a little bit, but that doesn’t mean that he is not dangerous though. So since they are considering those two guys (Malignaggi & Salita) for the fight, I am more than willing to throw Santana’s name into that mix and Lou DiBella knows that and so does Carl Morreti.

I think it will be an explosive fight, I think the one thing that Santana has, that Arturo Gatti has is that they both have a tendency to brawl. They both can box, they both have good speed, and they both have good power. Santana told the press after the fight, that the reason why he didn’t stay in the middle of the ring and dominate Esalas is because he was kind of bored. That’s why he threw his back on the ropes and made it a fight, that is how Dario Esalas got some rounds, because Santana wanted to mix it up. So while I am not going to be really happy if Santana goes punch for punch with Arturo Gatti, because I would want him to be  a little slicker, but I tell you what… I can see that fight generating into a brawl. I see both of them trying to be strategic, but it will turn into an explosive match. Because what you see in Edgar Santana is a younger version of Arturo Gatti. A guy who can box, and guy who can punch and a guy that really prefers to punch and mix it up and go to war.

RC: Santana is a Jr. Welterweight that has had some fights at welterweight limit earlier on in his career, but all of his recent step up fights has been on or around the 140lb weight. Gatti on the other hand as we know wants nothing to do with 140lbs, and his last two fights took place at 147lbs. What weight would this fight take place at?
ED: Ideally it would be a catch weight we know that Arturo Gatti is a full-fledged welterweight, and Santana is really a true jr. welterweight so it would have to be at a catch weight.

RC: When can we expect to hear more about this fight?
ED: I made my feelings very clear to Lou DiBella and he wants to do it, and I want to keep pounding the drums. They still don’t have an opponent, Santana is going to stay busy in may, so we will be sharp. We will be more than ready to step up, and fight in July. Edgar Santana is ready to take this fight, and like I said before I can see this fight being a very explosive fight. We have no problem going to AC. It’s the Lions den, its Arturo Gatti’s home, it is a huge step up. It is fights like this that we cant turn our back on. If you are a boxing fan, then you are automatically an Arturo Gatti fan. The vast majority of the excitment the world of boxing has had in the last ten years is because of Arturo Gatti, and this is a once in a life time oportunity for young prospects, young contenders like Santana to face a guy that is going to be a Hall of Famer. These things don’t happen. Arturo Gatti is one of the marquee names in boxing and if you get that  opportunity, you cant bypass that. There is no way, there is no way that you can bypass not fighting Arturo Gatti.

RC: Is there anything else you would like to add in closing?
ES: Arturo Gatti and Edgar is a good match up for boxing. I think this fight is made for TV. If they fight like I said previously, Gatti is looking at a younger version of himself and Edgar Santana is looking at an older version of himself. You are talking about two boxer punchers who have a tendency to brawl and when things get ugly, that is the way they like it and I can see it being a really good fight for the fans to watch.

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