Denys Berinchyk (23-0, 9 KOs) pulled off an upset, defeating three-division world champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) by a 12-round split decision to win the vacant WBO lightweight title on Saturday night at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
The scores were 115-113 for Navarrete, 115-113 and 116-112 for Berinchyk. I had it 117-111 for Berinchyk.
Navarrete was out of his league fighting at 135 for the first time, and he didn’t have the skills to deal with the movement and boxing IQ of the 2012 Olympic silver medalist Berinchyk from Ukraine.
It wasn’t until the tenth round that Navarrete finally started to connect with any regularity, as he’d been missing badly and getting countered by Berinchyk in rounds one through nine.
A could of head clashes in the tenth round left Navarrete wincing as the round ended. The ringside doctor checked in on Navarrete in between the tenth and eleventh to ensure that he was ok.
It almost looked like Navarrete wanted to quit, as he appeared discouraged because he was unable to land his shots on Berinchyk and getting hit a lot more than he ever had in his previous fights.
Although the punches that Berinchyk was landing weren’t big, there were so many of them that it had Navarrete looking frustrated. He wasn’t on the same level as this fighter talent-wise and lacked the power to hurt him.
Undercard results:
Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) put on a brutal punching display, knocking out previously unbeaten #1 Giovanni Santillan (32-1, 17 KOs) in the tenth round to capture the WBO interim welterweight title in the co-feature bout.
The powerful 23-year-old Norman Jr. dropped Santillan twice in the tenth round with beautiful uppercuts to the head.
The first knockdown of the round was from a right uppercut to the chin of the bloody and battered Santillan. In the second knockdown. Normal Jr. landed a scorching left uppercut that snapped Santillan’s head sideways, sending blood spattering and dropping him hard on the canvas.
The referee then stopped and halted the fight at 1:33 of the tenth. Santillan’s nose was bleeding like a faucet from the eighth round after Norman Jr. landed an uppercut that caught him perfectly.
2020 U.S Olympian heavyweight Richard Torrez (10-0, 10 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a fifth-round knockout over Brandon Moore (14-1, 8 KOs) in a tougher-than-expected fight.
The 6’6″ Moore gave the 6’2″ Torrez problems with his size, hand speed, and his boxing ability. However, in the fifth, Torrez caught Moore with a right hand and knocked him down. The fight was halted moments later when Moore’s corner threw in the towel.
Lightweight prospect Jonny Mansour (1-0) defeated Anel Dudo (3-6, 1 KO) by a four round unanimous decision. The scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 40-36.
The big punching light welterweight prospect Emiliano Vargas (10-0, 8 KOs) stopped Angel Varela (10-3, 7 KOs) by a sixth-round knockout. Vargas was hammering Varela in the sixth round, prompting referee Ray Corona to step in and stop the fight. The contest was halted at 1:01 of the sixth.
Lightweight Alan Garcia (13-0, 10 KOs) beat Wilfredo Flores (10-3-1, KO’s) by an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 80-72.
Unbeaten featherweight Jonathan Lopez (15-0, 11 KOs) defeated Edgar Ortega (14-3- 2, KOs) by an eighth round knockout. Referee Ray Corona waved it off after Lopez unloaded on the overmatched Ortega in round eight. The time of the stoppage was at the 2:39 mark.
Light welterweight Art Barrera Jr. (5-0, 4 KOs) defeated Levy Jose Garcia Benitez (3-2-1, KOs) by a four-round unanimous decision. The scores were 40-35, 40-35, and 40-35.
