Mark E. Ortega
Leave-it-in-the-ring.com
October 5, 2011
It wasn't long ago that Santa Barbara,
California's Francisco Santana was entering fights as the touted
prospect with high expectations. Friday night, he'll step into the
ring as the projected stepping stone for undefeated Jermell Charlo of
Austin, Texas in the televised opener of ShoBox: The New Generation,
a position Santana has found himself in a few times as of late.
After turning pro under the
Goossen-Tutor Promotions banner in November of 2005, Santana was
being groomed for big things.
“I was supposed to make my pro debut
near my home at Chumash with Gary Shaw but the fight fell through,”
Santana told Leave It In The Ring in a phone interview on Wednesday.
“I used to have some investors who
helped me out and they were friends with Dan Goossen's lawyer and I
guess they kind of mentioned me to Dan. He said to bring me and I
could pro debut with him. I got a few fights with them and they liked
what they saw and after that they offered me a contract and I signed
it.”
At that point, a young Santana moved
from Santa Barbara to Las Vegas, where this Friday's fight takes
place, to train with former world champion Wayne McCullough on the
advice of Dan's son Craig Goossen, who said it would be a good move
for him. Santana would fight two bouts under McCullough before moving
back to Santa Barbara due to being homesick.
Santana would notch two more wins,
moving his record to 8-0 before he was matched with fellow unbeaten
Karim Mayfield of San Francisco, California [5-0-1 at the time] as
the co-feature to Andre Ward's fight with former title challenger
Rubin Williams in March of 2008. The bout would be televised by Fox
Sports Net, but would go largely overlooked.
“The first fight with Karim, it was a
good close fight,” offered Santana. “Karim is an awkward fighter,
he's a weird style to fight. I just said, 'Fuck it' and put my head
down and threw as many punches as I could. It was my toughest fight.
I remember in the fourth round I dropped him and had him hurt. In the
sixth round Karim sucked it up and I think I had shot my wad at that
point and he began landing crisp right hands.”
Mayfield, who just this past weekend
scored the NABO 140-pound title with an impressive one-sided decision
of tough gatekeeper Patrick Lopez, agreed it was a difficult bout.
“The fight was very tough. I think,
before this last fight, it was the toughest fight I had in my career.
He has a sneaky left hook and he caught me and dazed me. He had me
feeling woozy. It was actually a close fight that could have gone
either way. I felt I won because of the later rounds.”
Prior to the fight, Mayfield tried
getting in Santana's head by messaging him on Myspace along with his
friends that he had made a mistake by accepting to fight him.
“I taunted him on Myspace, me and my
friends, to get in his mind,” recalled Mayfield. “Mean mugging
him at the weigh-ins and all that bullshit. After the fight we shook
hands, there was a mutual respect.”
Though an immediate rematch was
intriguing to all who were lucky to witness the first go around, the
two wouldn't lock up again for nearly two years, finally meeting on
the undercard of Andre Ward's world title victory over Mikkel Kessler
in November of 2009.
Santana had run off three straight wins
since the controversial split decision loss to Mayfield, but two of
those wins, a split win over tough journeyman Tony Hirsch and a wider
than it looked unanimous win over Antonio Johnson, were of the close
variety. Mayfield, on the other hand, had run off four wins himself,
one being against an unbeaten Golden Boy Promotions prospect Mario
Lozano, who had just won a tournament in Mexico prior to meeting his
demise at the hands of the San Franciscan.
When the two stepped in for the
rematch, they were on completely different paths than the first time
around. Santana was in a make or break situation with the Goossens
while Mayfield's star was beginning to rise.
“There were a lot of times I felt
forced to take fights I didn't really want,” Santana recollects.
“But when you're a fighter, you'll fight anyone. I don't have
anything bad to say, they gave me an opportunity and were always
really respectful. It's not like I was made or fed nobodies so at
least I know what it is like to be in a tough fight. Against another
undefeated fighter, that experience will come in handy, so I'm trying
to make the best of it and come out victorious.”
Santana would lose to Mayfield the
second time around, this time more one-sidedly as Mayfield would stop
him in the fifth round of a one-sided fight.
“The second time around, I don't
remember much,” mentioned Santana on the rematch. “I think he
might have clocked me with a nice shot and my legs buckled. After
that I don't remember anything. I just remember Karim's face in front
of me and then Jackie Kallen [Mayfield's manager at the time] asking
me if I was okay.”
According to Santana, things were not
right with him heading into the rematch, physically or mentally.
“During that time [getting ready for
the Mayfield rematch], I had three weeks left in training camp. I had
my investors, who helped pay my bills, they didn't want to give me
any money. They wanted me to train with Joe Goossen but I felt it was
too close to the fight to make the change, I just wanted to finish
camp. I remember sitting in the conference room with my investors who
said they weren't going to pay unless I made the move. I told them
not to pay then.”
“When I was trying to lose the
weight, I got severely dehydrated,” offered Santana. “At the
weigh-ins, if I was to look at Karim and look away at someone else,
my entire image would move side to side and it was unfocused and I
had to keep my eyes still for a few seconds for things to refocus.
After the fight I would try and eat or drink something and I kept
throwing up. My team told me it was probably just a stomach virus. My
kidneys were damaged. After the fight, I was told I had the kidneys
of an 80 or 90 year old. I had to give it time and rest and medicine
to get them better again.”
Following the loss, Santana would
remain inactive for more than a year, unsure if boxing was going to
be the path for him.
“After that fight, that is when
everyone dropped me and I started to see the business of boxing. It
was a wakeup, a tough point. I just came off a loss and felt crushed.
I didn't think I was going to continue boxing, was going to give it
up. I didn't train for a few months but I am always an active person
so I always have to be doing something, so I began training just to
stay in shape. I ended up meeting a few people and started sparring a
few people and helping them get ready for their fights. It grew on me
again and I decided to give it another shot. I went back home and
began working from scratch.”
It was during this difficult time in
his career that Santana reconnected with Victor Ortiz, a long time
friend of his.
“I'm where I am at thanks to him,”
Santana proudly says. “He has always been a friend of mine since we
were younger. We always have sparred and have been sparring partners.
He had a fight versus Lamont Peterson, they called me up and asked if
I would be interested in sparring. I started working 8, 10, 12 rounds
three times a week. Right after the third sparring session my girl
said I should talk to Victor and see if he could help me. I told him
what happened, that I wasn't with the Goossens or my manager, and he
took me under his wing. 'From now on, my trainers and manager are
your trainers and manager'.
On whether or not he felt it has raised
his game, of that Santana is certain.
“The fact I could train with a world
champion, it kind of encouraged me and motivated me to reach his
level one day. He's up there for a reason, he's doing something
right. I try and mimic him, I look up to him.”
Santana's first fight after his hiatus
would be a confidence builder against unheralded Adan Leal in
February of this year at the Chumash Casino, less than thirty minutes
from his hometown of Santa Barbara.
“For that fight, I was very nervous.
I still had the Karim fight in the back of my mind. Stepping in there
I didn't know how I was going to feel or how I was going to do. As
soon as I stepped in the ring, my confidence grew. My mother was
there, it was the first time she was able to see me since I was nine
years old. My girl, father, family friends were all there and it was
nice. I went out there and was relaxed and knocked the guy out quick.
Once I knocked him out, all the memories I had from the Karim fight
were erased and I was able to move past it.”
Santana would not be given any more
confidence building type fights after that. Gary Shaw, who promoted
the Leal fight, threw him in against Julian Williams, an undefeated
fighter of his own, at the same venue three months later.
“I knew I was an underdog, I was
fighting Gary's fighter,” recalled Santana. “I didn't know
anything about him except he was from Philadelphia and a good
prospect. I remember at the weigh-ins he had an attitude. After that,
I told coach, 'You know what, I'm going to test his will and take the
will out of him.'
Despite being brought in as an
opponent, Santana would build his confidence, falling behind early in
the fight but gutting it out in the final two rounds to come away
with a draw.
“I remember at first I was throwing
wild punches and kept missing because he was taller. By the fourth
round I started landing some good combinations, especially to the
body. I know that's what broke him down was all the body shots. In
the fifth, I almost stopped him. I hit him with the hook and saw him
buckle a little bit. I remember I hit him and his mouthpiece flew
out. I guess the bell rang and I didn't hear it and the ref stepped
in and I was wondering if they stopped it. Then I saw the stools
coming in and I was like, “Aw, fuck.” I knew if it had gone a few
more rounds I would have stopped him, but it was a good confidence
builder.”
Friday, Santana will again be brought
in as the opponent. Both he and Jermell Charlo have fifteen pro
fights under their respective belts, but you could hardly argue that
Santana isn't the more experienced fighter. Santana also has the
benefit of coming in without any pressure. He's expected to lose. If
Charlo doesn't look impressive, he'll be just another Golden Boy
Promotions prospect in a long line that didn't match the expectations
set forth for him.
“When you're the prospect, it's a
little different,” concluded Santana. “Being on the other side,
they don't really acknowledge you as much as they do him. I like it.
I like when people doubt me and don't think I have the ability to
pull it off. It's more motivation for me and makes me fight that much
harder. At the end of the day, we both have two hands and two feet
and both can punch. I know I have a big heart and will go out there
and do the best I can. I intend on showing people I am no stepping
stone.”
Former rival Karim Mayfield sparred
with the Charlo twins Jermell and Jermall in Austin and gave his take
on Friday's action.
“I actually sparred him [Jermell],
he's quick. Both he and Santana know how to fight. If it's a boxing
match I see Jermell coming up with the victory. If Santana can keep
that pressure and try not to box too much, he'll be victorious. If he
tries to box this guy, he'll get outboxed. But Santana has a good
defense and keeps his hands very tight. It feels like you are wasting
punches on his arms, he has that tight Winky Wright defense.”
Regardless of how it plays out, two
years ago it would have been difficult to project Santana being in
this position with his career in a downward spiral. It seems he has
finally surrounded himself with a good supporting cast and has as
good a chance as ever to make the splash he was expected to when he
turned pro at the end of 2005. For Santana, who is still only 25
years old, it is make or break. One thing is for sure, there's no way
he could be any more prepared for the task at hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment