Giovani Santillan was tested Saturday night in his return from nearly a one-year layoff.
The southpaw from San Diego prevailed, however, in his 10-round welterweight fight against Erick Bone. Santillan beat Bone by unanimous decision in a highly competitive contest on the George Kambosos Jr.-Maxi Hughes undercard at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Judges Mike Bower (97-92), Chris Ritter (98-92) and Gerald Ritter (97-93) scored their back-and-forth fight for Santillan, who improved to 31-0 (16 KOs).
Santillan ended a seven-fight winning streak by Bone (27-7, 14 KOs), which was put together mostly against subpar competition in Bone’s home country of Ecuador.
CompuBox credited Bone for landing 11 more punches overall than Santillan (224-of-591 to 213-of-692), but the judges saw their fight differently. Though he didn’t know it, Bone needed a knockout in the last round to win.
Bone landed a right hand with just under 50 seconds to go in the 10th and final round, but Santillan wasn’t hurt. Santillan landed two right uppercuts in a combination that concluded with just over a minute to go in the 10th round.
Santillan ended Bone’s seven-fight winning streak, which was put together mostly against subpar competition in Bone’s home country.
Santillan caught Bone with a left hand, which initiated a flurry of punches from him with just over a minute remaining in the ninth round. Santillan’s right hand moved Bone into the ropes a little more than 30 seconds into the ninth round.
Bone drilled Santillan with a right hand just before the halfway point of the eighth round. Santillan’s left to the side of Bone’s head rocked him about 45 seconds into the eighth round.
A straight right by Bone snapped back Santillan’s head with just under 50 seconds on the clock in the seventh round.
A straight left by Santillan connected with just over a minute to go in the seventh round. Santillan and Bone traded hard shots just before and after the midway mark of the seventh round.
Bone and Santillan traded on the inside for much of the final minute of the sixth round.
A straight right by Bone moved Santillan backward just before the halfway point of the sixth round. Bone’s short right hand landed barely a minute into the sixth round.
Santillan’s right hook connected several seconds before the fifth round concluded. Bone’s right hand got Santillan’s attention with about 35 seconds to go in the fifth round.
Santillan and Bone both landed hard shots in an exchange with just under 50 seconds on the clock in the fourth round. A right hand by Bone knocked Santillan backward just after the midway mark of the fourth round.
Santillan connected with two right hooks toward the end of the third round. Santillan’s left landed in an exchange with just over 1:10 remaining in the third round.
Bone drilled Santillan with a right hand that made him hold Bone a few seconds before the second round ended.
Bone’s left hook landed about 1:20 into the second round. Santillan drilled Bone with a right hand a little less than 50 seconds into the second round.
A three-punch combination by Santillan moved Bone backward in the middle minute of the opening round. A right hand by Bone landed cleanly with just over 30 seconds to go in the first round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.