Abass Baraou W10 Giovani Santillan... On Friday at Frontwave Arena in San Diego, former WBA junior middleweight champion Abass Baraou outworked hometown favorite Giovani Santillan to win a majority ten-round decision on ProBoxTV’s “Championship Series” live broadcast. Baraou (18-2 with 9 KOs) was too big, too strong and applied too much pressure for the slicker but smaller Santillan (35-2 with 18 KOs) to find a path to victory. From Berlin, Baraou employed a superior work rate to take the first and second rounds, pushing a hesitant Santillan back repeatedly with effective aggression. A fighter who thrives on momentum, Santillan briefly found his rhythm in the third and landed some quality shots while finally advancing, only to have Baraou catch him with a sharp right-hand counter and swing the action back to his favor by round’s end.
Baraou continued to force the issue in workmanlike fashion in round four, backing Santillan up and forcing him to the ropes repeatedly with his busier fists and non-stop forward movement. Southpaw Santillan came alive again in round five, energizing his hometown fans by pinning the bigger Baraou on the ropes for an extended barrage of power punches to the head and body. In round six, Santillan surrendered the momentum he had built the previous round by allowing Baraou to resume coming forward and pushing him around the ring. Baraou was starting and finishing every exchange.
“El Gallo De Oro” Santillan found offensive success in spurts of two-fisted flurries in round seven, but not often enough to sway the advantage from the relentless Baraou. A skilled southpaw and former WBO #1 welterweight contender, Santillan enjoyed a good round eight by switching to a smooth-boxing approach and forcing Baraou to chase him into the traps he set. However, for the second time in the fight, Santillan followed up a round he had probably won by taking another three-minute vacation in round nine. By round’s end, Baraou was taunting his listless foe, trying to bait him into mixing it up more often. Baraou finished the fight by walking down Santillan, taunting him while unleashing the fight’s most extended two-fisted beating on the clearly faded California native.
The scores were 95-95, overruled by scores of 97-93 and 96-94 for Baraou, who returns to the win column in his first fight since losing his 154 lbs title by split decision in a WBO/WBA unification battle against Xander Zayas in late January this year. The majority decision prevented Santillan from winning his fourth consecutive fight since losing to Brian Norman Jr. for the interim WBO welterweight title in May 2024.
“I'm confident everywhere I go, you know? Like if there's a ring, I'm gonna make it work, and get the win,” said a happy Baraou, post-fight.
"This is my road back to a world championship and I'm ready for all the opportunities I can get… Today was the right first step on the way back to become champion again. One year from now, you're gonna be calling me a multiple world champion.” Santillan-Baraou was presented in association with Top Rank.
