By Ponciano "John" Jr.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It did take long but Emmanuel Navarrete continued his winning ways after an 11th-round technical knockout against his Filipino foe Jeo Santisima to retain his WBO world super-bantamweight title at the MGM Grand Arena here.
The Mexican was dominating the Filipino boxer throughout with his epic volume punches despite hurting his right hand in the second half of the fight.
Navarrete was seen shaking his right-hand multiple times during the fight but still managed to throw 922 punches. He connected 330 including 274 power punches. On the 11th round alone where the referee stopped the fight as well Santisima's camp throwing the towel, Navarrete has landed 77 punches on Santisima of which 57 are power punches.
“I hit him weirdly with my right hand did hurt my thumb, but I had to plow through it and get the victory,” Navarrete said during the post-fight interview.
“The fight took a long time because I had a very tough opponent.” he continued.
The win was his 31st including 27 knockouts with only one defeat and more importantly his fifth successive title defense in just nine months.
Two Filipinos already bowed down to Navarrete in battling his title and many believe he will go up one division for his next fight.
He was very successful targeting the head of Santisima in the opening rounds before loosening midway the fight due to the discomfort of his right hand.
Santisima, on the other corner, was able to push the champ on the rope in the fourth but failed to have a strong finish every round.
Santisima seemed to be tired during the final minute of every round allowing Navarrete to land more combinations hence forcing the Filipino to either hug or backpedal.
The Masbate-native ended his 16th straight victory at the hand of the Mexican in his US debut to go with 19 wins, 16 knockouts, and three defeats.