Emanuel Navarrete made the fourth successful defense of his WBO super bantamweight title with an 11th-round TKO over Jeo Santisima on the Wilder-Fury II undercard.
The challenger had isolated success in the opening rounds by punching in combination whenever Navarrete tried to bull inside. The tide would turn in the third when Navarrete feinted Santisima for an open left hook to the body. From there, the champion began to gradually take over the in-fighting with chopping head shots and continued body hooks.
By the fifth round, Navarrete’s pace had Santismisa visibly laboring under the constant whirlwind of punches. A knockout seemed imminent, but the champion slowed down the pace and the fight took on a sparring session feel as Santisima remained defensive throughout the middle rounds.
Navarrete had a big 10th where he punished Santisima with nearly 90 punches thrown and an array of uppercuts and hooks. The champion took that momentum into the 11th and overwhelmed Santisima with several waves of non-stop punching to force the referee stoppage.
Navarrete improves to 31-1 (27 KOs).
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 