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Cuban southpaw Angelo Santana showed his talent tonight in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation, knocking out Johnny Garcia in the fifth round of their lightweight bout.
Santana (14-0, 11 KO) put Garcia down in the second round on a straight left hand, sending him straight backwards to the canvas. In the fourth, a cut was opened on Garcia (13-1, 8 KO), outside of his right eye, which Santana attacked in the fifth round. A left hand put Garcia down again in that frame, and Santana closed the show at 1:41 of the round with another left hand that put Garcia on his back and out when referee Frank Gentile stopped the fight, and rightly so.
Santana, 24, is promoted by Don King, and thus has a somewhat limited immediate future, as King just doesn't promote much. Don is up there in years, his stable has been gutted, and he just doesn't have the resources or the presence in the sport to make stars anymore. I'm not even knocking King, really, when I say I hope that Santana can find a way to sign with a bigger promoter soon. There is a lot of talent in this fighter, and it would be a shame to see it wasted, which I fear could happen.
As for Garcia, he didn't really fight badly, he was just outgunned by a better, stronger fighter. He was all effort and came up short. You can't ask much more than for a guy to do his best, and he did.
In the co-feature, two other fighters did their best, but their best wasn't much to write home about, unfortunately. Tough North Carolina club fighter James Winchester again lasted the distance, and again didn't do much in the fight, losing a ten-round decision to Joey Hernandez. Hernandez might have some trial horse fights in his future, but it's hard to see him making noise at 154 or 160. Winchester is a very limited, but very tough guy, who is also crafty enough to make fighters earn it and give them rounds. There is value in both of these guys, but probably not as contenders.