Despite being outlanded by over 100 punches, four-division champion Adrien Broner won a 12-round unanimous decision over Jovanie Santiago in a welterweight bouta at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Santiago was deducted a point for hitting after the 4th round bell.
Broner only landed 98 of 338 punches; whereas Santiago was 207 of 697.
Broner, 146 lbs of Cincinnati, OH won by scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 and is now 34-4-1 Santiago, 145 1/4 lbs of Dorada, PR is 14-1-1.
Photo Credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME
ADRIEN BRONER:
“That was cool. I want to go home and really look at my fight. I haven’t fought in two years. But I felt good, I felt like I won the fight. I felt like I beat him with the jab, honestly. But it felt good to get my hand raised though.
“I really didn’t warm up that much. So later on in the fight, I felt warm so I started picking it up and I felt good.
“I knew he was going to be tough because he’s 14-0. And anybody with that ‘0’ wants to keep that ‘0’ so they’re going to fight like a bum fighting for a sandwich. I came in and I got the job done.
“I want to say to Al Haymon and Stephen Espinoza: Hey, keep me in the ring. If I was fighting on the regular, maybe buddy wouldn’t have lasted. But just keep me in the ring. Maybe we’ll stop fighting cases and maybe we’ll stop getting in trouble.
“It is a different AB. I only had $13 coming into this fight. We done flipped that to about $13 million. So a lot of things are going to change.
“There is a lot of work out there at 140. Right now we’re going to the drawing board with Al Haymon and see what’s best for me. But I’m definitely going back to the gym and I’m looking forward to getting one of those titles this year—at 140.”
JOVANIE SANTIAGO:
“No, the decision doesn’t surprise me. Broner did a nice job in there.
“The decision could have gone both ways. He fought a great fight. We were in it to win this fight and he got the decision.
“I think boxing fans know who I am now, but in this fight I should have applied more pressure and the fight would have gone my way.
“I need to talk to my management team and see what’s next for me. But the performance today says a lot about me.”
Wallin Decisions Breazeale
Otto Wallin won a 12-round unanimous decision over former world totle challenger Dominic Breazeale in a heavyweight bout/
In round four, Breazeale was cut over his right eye.
Wallin landed 232 of 659 punches; Breazeale was 91 of 556.
Wallin, 240 lbs of Sweden won by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110 and is now 22-1. Breazeale, 261 1/4 lbs is 20-3.
OTTO WALLIN:
“It was nice. I think I had an advantage because I fought here before. I was more focused this time and I think I came out better than what I did last time.
“We knew coming in that I had better footwork, better speed so I wanted to use that. And I have good defense too. He hit me here and there but nothing too serious. I said before the fight that I just gotta do what I’m good and that’s what I tried to do.
“I am a good counterpuncher, I knew that. I’ve been having great sparring for this fight. I had been studying him a lot, I knew he that he was slower than me and doesn’t have the greatest defense always. I knew that I’d be landing my counters.
“I felt like after a while when I was feinting him, he kinda looked scared. He was kinda blinking and stuff. Or maybe the eye affected him, I don’t know. Or maybe his past experiences and being off for a little while.
“I knew he is a strong guy and he takes a pretty good punch. I mean, he was knocked out by Joshua and Wilder but those are the biggest punchers in boxing. I’ve seen him take huge shots from other guys and didn’t go down. So I wasn’t that surprised. I wish I could have done a little better and knocked him down.
“All in all, this was a great experience for me. I’m still learning, I’m 30 years old but I haven’t been at high level very long. I’m not there yet but I’m getting better and I feel like I’m improving every fight.
“I think there are a lot of guys out there, a lot of good fights. I’ve been so focused on Breazeale that I haven’t thought much past this but I hope to stay busier now. Before this I had a fight in August but before that I had long breaks. I hope to get a fight soon.
“I don’t think he ever hurt me. When you’re a southpaw and fight an orthodox fighter, sometimes you step on feet and lose balance. That happened to both of us a few times.
“My ultimate goal is to be champion. But I have to keep improving, I’m not there yet. I’ve got a lot of work to do, I’m getting better. I’m not so focused on who I fight, I just want to fight, keep it stepping it up and when I get another shot, I’ll be ready for it.”
DOMINIC BREAZEALE:
“I let the early rounds get away from me. Otto is a good boxer and did a good job of sticking and moving the whole fight. I did a little bit too much head-hunting at the start and paid for it on the back-end.
“I don’t think the eye bothered me much and I’ve had it busted up before. Otto did a good job of throwing the overhand right and making the eye look the way it does. He just did a better job of paying dividends on the body. I maybe landed 10 body shots the entire fight, which is unheard of for me.”
Easter Decisions Martin
Former lightweight world champion Robert Easter Jr. won a 12-round unanimous decision over Ryan Martin in a super lightweight bout.
In round eight, Easter was cut over the left eye from an accidental clash of heads. It was the first time that he suffered a cut in his career.
Easter landed 181 of 539 punches; Martin was 118 of 629.
Easter, 139 1/2 lbs of Toledo, OH won by scores of 118-110 and 117-111 twice. and is now 23-1-1. Martin, 139 1/2 lbs of Chattanooga, TN is 24-2.
ROBERT EASTER, JR.:
“I was just comfortable. Once I stay boxing, I get comfortable. I get a little bored but everybody says when I box, when I use my jab, keep my distance, I make the fight that much easier. So that’s what I was working on the whole camp. Me and my dad have been stressing on use the jab, keep your distance and that’s what we did. I wanted to fight but as you see, when I wanted to fight, I got headbutted. So it was best to keep our distance.
“Everybody knows when I get in the ring, I want to fight. That’s just where I feel a lot of adrenaline, a lot of action, but like I said, when I box I make it look easy. I can count on how many fingers on when I actually just stayed boxing instead brawling.
“I realized he wasn’t going to deal with my jab in the first round. We’ve been working on that this whole camp, keeping the distance. I got really comfortable with the jab in the first round. The second round was what set the tone and I knew he wasn’t going to get past that, it was going to be all night with the jab.
“Whoever has those straps, whoever is in the way is going to feel this wrath. Me and AB, we’re coming to stir up the 140-pound division and that’s that. There ain’t no particular fighter, I want them all. We’re coming for all those straps.”
RYAN MARTIN:
“It was a great fight. I thought I was competitive but obviously I could have done a lot of things better. I followed him too much and he was able to take away our game plan. He did a great job of keeping me on the outside. There’s not too much to say, he was the better man tonight. His jab didn’t bother me too much but it did keep me from getting on the inside. He never stunned me or affected me with it, but I should have sped up on him a little more.”