Brian Norman Jr. faced an uphill battle in his quest for the WBO interim welterweight title, squaring off against the unbeaten Giovani Santillan in the latter’s hometown of San Diego. With the stakes high and the crowd hostile, Norman (26-0, 20 KOs) was forced to choose between sticking to a boxing-oriented game plan or engaging Santillan (32-1) in a more aggressive, toe-to-toe fight.
Norman, recognizing the risk of being perceived as passive by judges influenced by the fervent support for Santillan, opted for the latter. “We kept thinking if we keep moving, it’s going to tap into the idea we’re running from him, and make him press even more,” Norman told BoxingScene. “So let’s go to the fire zone, let’s see what kind of fight he can bring, see how hard it is. So I can do the blazing and press him.”
This strategy, centered on Norman’s powerful straight right hand, proved effective. He consistently landed clean shots, cutting and staggering Santillan, much to the surprise of ringside observers. “Right down the pipe – I kept seeing (the openings), so I kept letting it go,” Norman recalled.
By the sixth round, Norman’s scouting of Santillan had paid off, revealing his opponent’s tendency to fatigue in the latter half of fights. Confident in his lead on the scorecards and having withstood the best of Santillan’s pressure, Norman sensed his opponent’s “last hoo-rah” as Santillan launched heavier punches. However, Norman remained unfazed and delivered a devastating right uppercut in the 10th round, dropping Santillan and earning a knockout that some have hailed as a contender for knockout of the year.
Norman’s decisive victory, punctuated by a dramatic stare-down of his fallen opponent, earned him the WBO interim welterweight title. The crowd, initially hostile, was silenced by Norman’s performance. “The crowd had really got me. I have nothing against Giovani. But I was in San Diego, everyone was booing me. Even before the knockout, I could still hear the shouts of ‘Gio! Gio!’ So I felt like I was the villain that night. I went into it and stared him down, (stared down) the energy I had been feeling from the crowd.”
With this win, Norman is poised to elevate to full champion status after current champion Terence Crawford fights for the WBA junior-middleweight belt in August. Should Crawford vacate his welterweight titles, Norman will join the ranks of Georgia’s boxing elite, including former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and the late two-division champion Vernon Forrest.
“I definitely feel like a champion,” Norman said. His manager, Jolene Mizzone, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the significance of Norman’s victory in hostile territory. “A 23-year-old went into somebody else’s backyard and, in the last minute, the fight was made an interim championship. That’s a lot of pressure. Let alone that night. Brian proved the best revenge is proving a lot of people wrong. He was focused round one through 10, and had a game plan.”
For Norman, the victory is a testament to his resilience and determination. “A lot of people doubted me, it was stacked against me,” he said. “I love when it’s like that. Because I had nothing to lose.”
As Norman basks in his triumph, the future looks bright for the young champion. His next steps in the welterweight division will be closely watched as he continues to prove his mettle against the best in the sport.
