Abass Baraou took Giovani Santillan’s best moments, kept marching forward, and beat the hometown favorite by majority decision Friday night at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

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One judge somehow scored the 10-round junior middleweight fight 95-95. The other two had it 97-93 and 96-94 for Baraou, who deserved the decision after doing most of the pressing and throwing the busier combinations.

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The vacant WBO Intercontinental junior middleweight title also went home with Baraou (18-2, 9 KOs) following the main event of ProBox TV’s second Championship Series broadcast.

There were isolated stretches in which Santillan’s cleaner boxing troubled Baraou. His trouble was sustaining it. Every time the southpaw began building something, he handed control back by becoming hesitant and allowing the stronger man to walk him toward the ropes.

Pressure and activity carried the first two rounds for Baraou. Santillan found his range during the third, only to get caught by a sharp counter right hand when Baraou refused to let him dictate the action.

The fourth belonged to Baraou’s steady pressure. Santillan finally gave the local crowd something to celebrate in the fifth when he trapped the German against the ropes and attacked with both hands.

Instead of building from there, Santillan went quiet in the sixth. Baraou started the exchanges, finished them, and physically pushed him around the ring. That pattern told the story of the fight.

Another decent spell came from Santillan in the seventh before he boxed particularly well in the eighth, making Baraou chase and leading him into counters. Then came another costly disappearance. Santillan took nearly all of the ninth round off while Baraou taunted him and invited him to fight.

That was a strange response from someone competing in his home area with a valuable regional belt on the line.

Closing the tenth in control, Baraou walked Santillan down and battered him with extended combinations. The former WBA champion looked like the fighter who wanted the result more. Santillan looked like a boxer hoping a few polished sequences would erase the long stretches in which he was being bullied.

“I’m confident everywhere I go, you know? Like if there’s a ring, I’m gonna make it work, and get the win,” Baraou said afterward.

“This is my road back to a world championship, and I’m ready for all the opportunities I can get. Today was the right first step on the way back to become champion again. One year from now, you’re gonna be calling me a multiple world champion.”

The win was Baraou’s first appearance since losing a split decision to Xander Zayas in their WBA-WBO unification fight in January. Santillan’s three-fight winning streak ended, leaving him with another painful loss after Brian Norman Jr. stopped him in May 2024. Santillan-Baraou was presented in association with Top Rank.

Luis Alberto Lopez Pounds Daniel Lugo

Former IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto “Venado” Lopez made a violent entrance into the junior lightweight division by stopping Daniel Lugo at 1:18 of the third round.

A heavy left hook from Lopez (33-3, 20 KOs) hurt Lugo late in the second. A low blow interrupted his attempt to finish, but Lugo received only a brief reprieve. Roughly 30 seconds after the restart, Lopez dropped him with a legal left hook to the liver.

The beating continued in the third. Lopez pinned Lugo (28-5-1, 19 KOs) against the ropes and unloaded downstairs and upstairs until referee Ray Corona stepped between them.

Only four rounds of action had kept Lopez busy since Angelo Leo knocked him out and took his IBF featherweight title in August 2024. There was little evidence of rust against Lugo, although this was exactly the type of opponent Lopez was supposed to crush.

“I was very anxious to return to the ring,” Lopez said. “I was trying to get a world champion to face me in this fight. Unfortunately, none of them were available. But, hey, I’m happy to be performing here tonight.

“I want to thank all my fans. I know it’s not easy to cross the border. It’s getting very difficult, but I promise you, I will be champion once again.”

In another 10-round junior lightweight bout, Dominic Valle defeated Francois Scarboro Jr. by unanimous decision after a hard, back-and-forth fight.