Alejandro "Peque" Santiago can't seem to get a break when he fights in Puerto Rico. His 2016 match with Jose "Chiquiro" Martinez ended in a controversial draw that many observers thought Santiago deserved to win.
On Saturday night at Complejo Ferial in Ponce, Puerto Rico, the same thing happened when the fast-paced, 10-round junior bantamweight fight ended in a questionable draw.
The 22-year-old Santiago (16-3-3, 7 KOs), of Tijuana, Mexico, used quick footwork and fast combinations to outbox and outpunch Martinez, of Las Marias, Puerto Rico, throughout most of the fight. Martinez (20-0-2, 13 KOs) rallied somewhat in the later rounds with some solid left hooks, but Santiago stayed right there, rocking him with a right hand early in the 10th.
The scores were 96-94 for Santiago, 96-94 for Martinez and 95-95.
In the exciting co-feature, Lucas Fernandez overcame a second-round knockdown and a cut left eye to stop Joshua Franco 46 seconds into the ninth round of a scheduled 10-round junior bantamweight match.
The previously undefeated Franco, of San Antonio, looked to be on his way to a quick win, but Fernandez, of Santa Fe, Argentina, regained his feet and kept fighting.
The bristling match went back and forth over the next six rounds. Franco, 22, seemed to have the edge most rounds, but Fernandez, 26, kept pressing forward, hammering away with hard shots to the body.
The fight was close entering the ninth, when Fernandez (12-1-1, 9 KOs) stunned Franco (13-1, 6 KOs) with an uppercut and poured on the punches. Three consecutive rights to the head prompted referee Jose H. Rivera to wave off the fight.
In the TV opener, Josean Serra (12-1, 8 KOs) stopped Marco Sanchez (12-7-3, 7 KOs) at 1:27 of the third round in a scheduled six-round junior bantamweight bout.
Serra, of Ponce, Puerto Rico, dropped Sanchez, of Mexicali, Mexico, with a left hook to the body in the second round. Sanchez beat the count and survived until the bell.
Serra continued to attack the body in the third round, and when Sanchez went down again, his corner told the referee to stop the fight.