In the televised opener to Jaron Ennis, rising lightweight contender Edwin De Los Santos earned a one-sided unanimous decision over Joseph Adorno after ten rounds of action.
De Los Santos made it three straight victories by scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91.
The Dominican Republic’s De Los Santos found a home for his straight left hand early and often to control the tide against Adorno.
His hand and foot speed advantage made it tough for Adorno to get any momentum offensively, as Adorno was forced to rely on counter hooks that too often fell short of their target.
“We came prepared to show our boxing skills in this fight tonight. That’s exactly what we did,” said De Los Santos.
“The game plan was to keep him at bay, box him all night, and counter him when he pressed the attack.
“I wanted to show the boxing world that I have boxing ability. I’m not just a big puncher. I’m a boxer also.”
“The strategy was to box him, but he’s a southpaw. He was hard to figure out,” said Adorno. “He’s the best southpaw I’ve faced. He was well-prepared and knew how to manage the ring.”
Edwin De Los Santos
“I can’t tell you all the tricks we did in training,” said De Los Santos. “But we did many hills, climbing, swimming, boxing, sparring.
“Again, I don’t want to reveal all the secrets, but that’s some of what was done for this fight.”
“Moving down in weight did play into my performance a little, but I don’t want to make any excuses,” said Adorno, whose previous four fights came at 140 pounds.
“I shouldn’t have taken this fight right away. I should have fought at 137 pounds first. It is what it is, though. He was the better man. He did his job.”
De Los Santos had stopped nine of his previous ten opponents. But showed off his boxing skill and movement throughout the ten rounds.
His dominance showed up in the punch stats as he out-landed Adorno 144 to 37, including an impressive 63% connect rate on power shots.
With the victory, De Los Santos continued to set his sights on the top fighters in the division.
“I have to just talk to my promoter about what’s next, but I’ll take care of anyone at 135,” said De Los Santos. “I have the potential to be more disciplined and show my boxing skills even more.”
