Sammy Valentin vs. Giovani Santillan:
On Friday night two young, undefeated prospects will go head-to-head on Telemundo. Those prospects are the 23-year-old Sammy Valentin (12-0, 9 KO) and the 25-year-old Giovani Santillan (21-0, 11 KO) and they are scheduled to go 10 rounds from the welterweight division. Boxing fans always seemed to get a little more juiced when two young prospects face off against each other because so often those prospects are protected well into their late 20s. Neither fighter has faced many notable opponents but Santillan has been in the ring with the better opposition on a more consistent basis, although it is Valentin who brings the superior power into the ring. Valentin is an orthodox fighter who carries good pop on his punches. Working behind a stiff jab Valentin can do damage with an accurate straight right hand and he carries power in both hands. Along with his straight right, Valentin also has a good left hook and both punches can do damage. Defensively Valentin hasn't been touched up too much because he does a nice job of guarding his chin with his off hand. One improvement Valentin could make would be going to the body more, making his power even more dangerous later in fights. Head clashes could come into play in this fight since Santillan is a southpaw. Santillan has a crispy jab that he likes to stay busy with and often he brings a strong left hand behind it, a punch he likes to pound the body with. One issue for Santillan though is the fact that he doesn't throw his right hook very often and becomes one dimensional in his attack. If you can disrupt Santillan's jab he won't be able to set up the big left hand. Santillan doesn't have very many defensive flaws either so on paper at least this should be a close, competitive fight. This bout will go the distance and while Santillan will have long stretches where he looks good it will be the heavier hands of Valentin that are the difference in this fight and he will get the close unanimous decision victory.
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