Giovani Santillan vs Fredrick Lawson Predictions: Santillan climbs back on the horse

World-ranked welterweight Giovani Santillan takes on Fredrick Lawson this Saturday, December 7 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The welterweight bout takes place on the undercard of Emanuel Navarrete’s rematch with Oscar Valdez. The show will be screened live on Sky Sports Main Event.

Here are my Santillan vs Lawson predictions ahead of this 10-round attraction.

Santillan steps into unfamiliar territory here as he looks to rebound from the first loss of his 33-fight career. Brian Norman Jr. got the better of ‘Gallo de Oro’ last time out, winning via 10th-round knockout in an upset victory.

That fight was for the WBO interim welterweight championship. With Terence Crawford since having vacated the main belt, Norman is now the full world champion. That knowledge will only agonise Santillan further, knowing it could have been him wearing that title belt.

Now the San Diego man starts the rebuild that was necessitated by Norman’s stunning uppercut. His opponent is a familiar face often spotted opposite the ring from famous names. Unfortunately for Lawson, it rarely ends well for him against these illustrious opponents.

The first-round stoppage he suffered to Vergil Ortiz Jr. admittedly looked early. But the fact he barely threw a punch at the Texan suggests it wouldn’t have been far away even with a more permissive referee than Tony Weeks. 

Fringe contender Alexis Rocha forced Lawson out in seven rounds, which is telling. It took Santillan six rounds to finish Rocha when the pair fought. While boxing is not always this clear-cut, it is revealing that Santillan has been stopping the sort of fighters that beat Lawson as a matter of routine.

That is kind of the point of this undercard bout. Lawson has not been drafted in to further derail ‘Gallo de Oro’. This is a restoration mission for Santillan. When your career has been geared towards challenging for world titles and you come up short, it can trigger a longer-term slide. Many is the fighter who has never recovered from coming close to the crown.

Fighting Lawson is Santillan’s way of ending the year on a high. Getting back to the win column his name has been scrawled in on 32 occasions. Putting the Norman disappointment behind him and recalibrating for a brighter 2025.

Santillan is well-set to enjoy the new annum. Ranked 10th by the WBC, one assumes he is only a couple of wins away from a possible title shot. It is not unfair to say that Mario Barrios is a beatable champion. With Norman locking down the WBO belt and the near-untouchable Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis holding the IBF version, this WBC route might be a wise one for Santillan.

First he has to get Lawson out of the way and look good doing it. This fight represents a crucial shop window for the 33-year-old. Look good on this high-profile fight card and the opportunities should come rolling in. Fail to impress and the next big fight might be harder to come by. The pressure is on. How will Santillan respond?

Santillan vs Lawson Fight Odds

Santillan is a mammoth 1/50 to beat his man on Saturday night. Your Lawson long-shot price is 14/1 while a draw is marketed at 20/1.

Santillan vs Lawson Full Card

Emanuel Navarrete vs. Oscar Valdez

Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez

Lindolfo Delgado vs. Jackson Marinez

Giovani Santillan vs. Fredrick Lawson

Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Isaac Munoz Gutierrez

Albert Gonzalez vs. Gerardo Antonio Perez

Art Barrera Jr. vs. Juan Carlos Campos Medina

Steven Navarro vs. Gabriel Bernardi Cruz

Demler Zamora vs. Roman Ruben Reynoso

Cesar Morales vs. Miguel Gonzales

Santillan vs Lawson Prediction

I think this will be an easy night’s work for Santillan. He will look good enough to put himself on the radars of the division’s bigger names. Stopping Lawson won’t net you a world title shot, but it will certainly put you on the path.

My pick is Santillan to wrap this up around half way. I’ll go for the favourite in round five at 7/1.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.