by Francisco Salazar

ONTARIO, California - Welterweight contender Giovani Santillan stopped Alejandro Barboza in the second round late Friday night.

The southpaw Santillan was the aggressor from the opening bell, forcing Barboza to fight off his back foot. Santillan initiated exchanges, ripping combinations to the head and body of the Barboza, who resides in Michoacan, Mexico.

Santillan (24-0, 14 knockouts) began sitting down more on his punches in the second round. The tactic worked as a swooping left hand to the body dropped Barboza to one knee.

Referee Raul Caiz, Sr. counted Barboza (11-2, 7 KOs) out at 2:33.

Santillan, who is ranked number five by the WBO, has stopped four of his last five opponents.

“It’s not just about winning these fights, but it’s about winning them in impressive fashion,” Santillan told BoxingScene.com after the fight. “I want to do best I can every time I’m out there.”

The 26-year-old Santillan, who resides in San Diego, fights under the Thompson Boxing Promotions banner.

Bantamweight Saul Sanchez earned a hard-fought six round unanimous decision over Florida’s Sam Rodriguez.

The taller Sanchez was the aggressor for most of the fight, raining vicious three or four-punch combinations, finishing each combination with a left hook to the body.

Rodriguez (5-3, 3 KOs) found success on the inside, but took punishment in the process. Sanchez hurt Rodriguez on two occasions in round five, but was content to outbox Rodriguez during the final round.

Scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 60-54 in favor of Sanchez.

Junior featherweight Miguel Alcantara won a four round unanimous decision over Jose Naranjo (3-8-2, 1 KO). Alcantara (5-0, 2 KOs) was the more effective fighter in winning by scores of 40-36, 40-37, and 39-37.

Lightweight George Acosta (5-0, 1 KO) dropped Bryan Santiago Tovar (0-2) once in round one and again in round two en route to a knockout victory at 1:23 of the second round.

Junior featherweight Jonah Flores outboxed Neri Garcia (1-4) over four rounds to win a one-sided decision. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Flores, who improves to 5-0.

Junior middleweight Luis Lopez (2-0, 1 KO) defeated the taller Jared Ejigu (0-3) over four rounds to win by decision. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Lopez.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing