Nearly seven months after falling short in an attempt at an interim title, welterweight Giovani “El Gallo de Oro” Santillan is set to reignite his charge towards the top of the division. Santillan will square off against Ghana’s Frederick Lawson in a ten-round showdown on Saturday, Dec. 7th at Footprint Center in Phoenix. Santillan-Lawson joins a show that will stream live and exclusively on ESPN+. The ESPN-televised doubleheader (10:30 p.m. ET/ 7:30 p.m. PT) will feature a pair of world title rematches. In the main event, Emanuel “El Vaquero” Navarrete defends his WBO junior lightweight title against Oscar Valdez in an all-Mexican duel.
In the co-feature, WBO featherweight champion Rafael “El Divino” Espinoza defends his strap against Cuban star Robeisy “El Tren” Ramirez. Promoted by Top Rank, tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.com.
Santillan (32-1, 17 KOs) steadily climbed the welterweight rankings during his twelve-year career. He had a standout 2023, defeating respected Erick Bone in July before surprising the boxing world with a six-round demolition of Alexis Rocha in October. His performance solidified his place among the top welterweights, earning him a crack at the WBO interim title against Brian Norman Jr. in May. Santillan was knocked out in the tenth round, and Norman was later elevated to full champion. Lawson (30-5, 22 KOs) fell to Vergil Ortiz Jr. in January and Rocha in March after beating Estevan Villalobos last April.
A trio of undefeated Mexican-American talents has also been added to the ESPN+ undercard that also includes heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) and junior welterweight Emiliano Fernando Vargas (12-0, 10 KO) in eight-rounders.
Featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez (11-0, 7 KOs) will take on Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez (12-6-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-round showdown. Gonzalez, the latest hard-hitting standout from the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy, signed a long-term promotional deal with Top Rank in August. He is 4-0 with four knockouts in 2024 and returns following a third-round stoppage over Edgar de la Cruz Gonzalez in September.
Junior bantamweight Steven “Kid Dynamite” Navarro (4-0, 3 KOs) makes his fifth appearance of 2024 in a six-rounder versus Puerto Rico’s Gabriel Bernardi (7-1, 3 KOs). A decorated amateur, Navarro made his pro debut in April and signed with Top Rank later that month. He made his Top Rank debut with a six-round unanimous decision against Juan Pablo Meza in June before notching TKO wins over Israel Camacho in August and Oscar Arroyo in September.
Welterweight Art Barrera Jr. (6-0, 4 KOs) will see action in a six-round tilt against an opponent to be named. Barrera seeks to earn his fifth triumph of the year after decisioning Javier Mayoral in July.
