Heeeee’s baaaack!
It has been nearly four years since Garland native Americo Santos last laced up the gloves in a professional prize fight. For those who remember North Texas’ golden years of boxing in the early 2000s the name “Americo Santos” was synonymous with awe-inspiring knockout power. To put it bluntly, Santos could flat out crack your skull with one of his punches. It was this enviable trait that had Santos the toast of the town and lucrative paydays seemingly guaranteed in the future.
Unfortunately, for Santos the dream was derailed following a couple of losses against mid-tier talent. This included a debilitating knockout loss at the hands of Michael Rosales on a nationally televised Solo Boxeo card that took place in October 2007. That fight would be the last time we would see Santos step into the ring in a professional capacity. It appeared that the years spent boxing, including legendary gym tales of his intense sparring sessions, had put a number of miles on Santos’ body. For a while, it seemed that Santos would be content to just help mold boxers from his base at the Garland PAL boxing gym in downtown Garland.
But, Santos (26-3-1, 22KOs) is a fighter by nature so it came as no surprise to me when rumor began to circulate that Santos was working toward making a comeback. However, few could have predicted that Santos would make his first fight since 2007 a title fight in the main event of a nationally televised card. Which is exactly what Santos will face tonight when he battles Puerto Rican Jesus Pabon (16-1, 10 KOs) in the main event of the All Star Boxing card at the Palm Bay Community Center in Palm Bay, FL. The main event will be broadcast on Telemundo. The bout will be for the vacant WBC Latino junior welterweight title.
It’s abundantly clear that Pabon is the “house fighter” in this equation and will enjoy tremendous fans support from the Puerto Rican community down in Florida. However, in any fighter has a chance of upsetting the apple cart it would be Santos and his TNT-infused fists.
Photo © All Star Boxing, Inc (Santos on right)
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