Pechanga Arena has served as the scene for Giovani Santillan’s greatest triumphs — and toughest loss — over the course of the Mira Mesa native’s professional boxing career. Santillian (33-1, 18 KOs) will be back “home” at Pechanga on Saturday night to face Angel Beltran Villa (18-2-1, 32 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round welterweight fight that is part of a nine-bout card. Santillan is 2-1 at Pechanga Arena. In October 2021, he beat Angel Ruiz there. Last May, he suffered his only loss, a 10-round knockout from WBO world champion Brian Norman Jr. The defeat, which left Santillan bloodied and managing severe cuts to the areas above both eyebrows, momentarily stifled the 33-year old’s pursuit of a world title belt. Santillan bounced back to win his next fight, over Frederick Lawson via first-round retirement last July in Phoenix. He enters Saturday’s bout as the No. 8-ranked welterweight in a division currently controlled by unbeaten IBF world champion Jaron Ennis. “It was tough,” Santillan said. “We went through some hard moments with my fight last year in San Diego and some things happened with my family towards the end of the year. But I’m resilient, and my dad raised me to always work hard and always have faith and hope. I’m back here, and I’m excited for this weekend.” The 29-year old Villa is a southpaw like Santillan and is coming off a third-round knockout win over Jose Quintero Velarde in March. Saturday’s fight will be the biggest of his career, and will come against a highly motivated opponent. “Right now, I’m on the climb back up to another world title shot,” Santillan said. “I want another world title shot, and I’m ready for it already. I have to focus on this weekend, and I hope to get that soon.” Saturday’s main event will also carry San Diego flavor. Emanuel Navarrete, who has split his time between Mexico and San Diego for several years, will defend his WBO super featherweight title against Charly Suarez of the Philippines in a scheduled 12-round bout. The undercard, including Santillan’s bout, will air via ESPN+. The main card, including the Navarrete-Suarez fight, will air on ESPN starting at 7 p.m. Legion to host Houston The San Diego Legion (7-5) of Major League Rugby host the Houston SaberCats (7-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Legion are coming off a 45-36 home win over the NOLA Gold last week. With four games remaining in the regular season, the club is second behind the Utah Warriors (8-3) in the five-team Western Conference standings. Saturday’s game will air nationally on ESPN2. Rebellion close home slate The San Diego Rebellion (4-0) of the Women’s National Football Conference will play their home finale against the Oregon Ravens (1-3) Saturday night. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. from Escondido High School. The Rebellion finish their regular season May 17 in Denver. The WNFC playoffs open June 5 in Portland. Strike Force at home The San Diego Strike Force (2-3) of the Indoor Football League host the Northern Arizona Wranglers (0-5) on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Frontwae Arena. The Strike Force are coming off last week’s 57-34 road loss to the Bay Area Panthers.