The underdog Giovani Santillan broke up Alexis Rocha's party and now holds the NABO belt that will open the doors to the welterweight elite in 2024.
In a night at the Inglewood Forum, El Gallo de Oro showed off his power hooks that pressured and demolished Alexis Rocha, who visited the canvas three times before going down.
"I feel very good, it was the result I was looking for. Alexis is a very tough fighter, very good, he got up twice, but we worked very hard for this result," said Santillan, who trains with Robert Garcia, still in the ring.
"I came in as the B-side and this is what makes boxing a great sport. I needed this fight to have better fights for 2024," advanced the winner.
From the start of the fight, it was the size and strength of both men that set the pace, as Santillan outboxed Lex with no problems and it was all evident when Santillan landed his first punches. It was his fists that did the most damage.
As soon as the first three minutes were up, Rocha was bleeding from the nose, but he didn't let up until the punishment was too much and the referee stopped the action at 1:13 seconds of the sixth round.
With the win, Santillan improved his record to 32-0 with 17 knockouts, while Lex suffered his second professional loss.