On Saturday evening, Giovani Santillan will step into the boxing ring for the first time since suffering his first loss in a professional career that began in 2012.

The Mira Mesa native, who continues to live and train in San Diego, will carry a record of 32-1 (17 KOs) into Saturday’s 10-round welterweight bout against Fredrick Lawson (30-5, 22 KOs) at Footprint Center in Phoenix.

The fight is part of the undercard for the Emmanuel Navarrete-Oscar Valdez junior lightweight title bout airing on ESPN.

Santillan is coming off his first loss, a bloody 10-round loss via knockout to Brian Norman Jr. on May 24 at Pechanga Arena. The loss dinged the 33-year old Santillan’s sterling record, but did nothing to hurt his reputation as a fighter who can take a punch as well as give one.

Santillan went down twice in that 10th round, including on a fight-ending uppercut from Norman. He left the ring covered in blood and with a broken nose.

“Losing is tough, but it’s part of the sport,” Santillan said. “And that’s what I signed up for, to take on the hard, tough fights. Sometimes you lose, but that one loss is not going to hold me back from getting to where I want to go.”

The defeat dropped Santillan from fourth to 10th in the welterweight rankings.

The unranked Lawson, a 35-year old righthander from Ghana, is coming off losses to longtime division contenders Alexis Rocha and Vergil Ortiz.

A victory Saturday would put Santillan right back into contention for facing some of the division’s top fighters in the months ahead. Jaron Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) sits atop the division and defended his IBF title by defeating Karen Chukhadzhian via unanimous decision last month.

Santillan’s seven-month layoff included some time away from training followed by an intense camp. He had ample time to learn from the loss.

“That’s the way I was raised by my dad,” Santillan said. “Sometimes you fall, but you get back up and keep going. That’s the mentality I’ve had since that last fight.”

Seals hit the road after season-0pening win

The San Diego Seals opened their National Lacrosse League season with an 18-15 win over Philadelphia on Sunday at Pechanga Arena.

The most encouraging part of the victory stemmed from the strong performances of offseason acquisitions Ryan Benesch (5 goals, 4 assists), Ben McIntosh (4 goals, 2 assists) and Rob Hellyer (3 goals, 3 assists).

Next up: 5 p.m. Saturday at Georgia Swarm (0-0). Streaming: ESPN+, NLL.com

Gulls host Reign

The AHL’s San Diego Gulls earned a much-needed 2-1 shootout win at San Jose on Wednesday and entered Friday night’s home game against Bakersfield at 5-12-1-1 (12 points) and in ninth place in the 10-team Pacific Division.

The victory snapped a six-game losing skid for the Gulls, who have been outscored 69-51 on the season.

Next up: 6 p.m. Saturday vs. Ontario Reign (10-8, 20 points). Streaming: AHL.com

Sockers open season

The San Diego Sockers open a new MASL season Saturday night on the road against the Tacoma Stars.

The Sockers topped the Western Conference at 18-6-0 (52 points) last season before falling to the Chihuahua Savage in the second round of playoffs.

Coach Phil Salvagio returns along with veteran stalwarts like goalkeeper Boris Pardo and forwards Kraig Chiles, Gabriel Costa and Tavoy Morgan. The club has signed newcomers, including defensemen Ben Ramin, midfielder Sebastian Mendez and forward Taylor Walter Bond.

The Sockers open their home schedule Dec. 14 against Utica City FC. It’ll be the club’s first game at their new home, Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena.

Next up: 6:05 p.m. Saturday at Tacoma (0-0).