by Francisco Salazar

Giovani Santillan demolished Sammy Valentin in a battle of undefeated rising welterweights, in the main event of a Telemundo televised card from the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, Florida.

Santillan (22-0, 12 KOs) dropped Valentin (12-1, 9 KOs) twice in the second, before battering him with punches to secure the stoppage victory to capture the NABO title.

The fight matched two fighters who had built their records against modest opposition. Both were also young (Valentin is 23 and Santillan is 25) and have their whole future ahead of them in this sport.

Many saw the fight as a toss-up.

Coming into this contest, Valentin's most notable victory took place in his sixth pro fight on March 6 of last year. Valentin dominated former fringe contender Cosme Rivera until the fight was stopped in the fourth round. Four of Valentin's last five victories had been by knockout.

Santillan had the experience factor on his side. The San Diego resident had fought 95 rounds as opposed to Valentin's 36.

In his last bout on February 10, Santillan won a one-sided eight round decision over Omar Tienda. Santillan also has victories over Jose De Jesus Macias and Luis Solis.

Santillan has emerged as one of Thompson Boxing's top fighters. Valentin is promoted by Tutico Zabalo of All Star Boxing.

Also on the card, Top Rank's unbeaten lightweight prospect Teofimo Lopez (6-0, with 5 KOs), who resides in Davie, Florida, went the distance for the first time by winning a six round unanimous decision against Christian Santibanez (5-7, with 3 KOs).

Bantamweight Antonio Vargas (3-0, with 2 KOs), who resides in nearby Kissimmee, won a six round unanimous decision over Leonardo Reyes (7-14, with 3 KOs). 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing