MASAM SPORTS 7: JEO SANTISIMA IN INTENSE TRAINING AT WILD CARD GYM
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 10 Jan 2022
Santisima (L) poses with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in Los Angeles.
World Boxing Organization (WBO) No. 8 contender Jeo “Santino” Santisima is now in intense training in the United States for his showdown against American Joet Gonzales on February 5 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
Santisima, age 25 years, of Aroroy, Masbate, arrived in Los Angeles, California last December 31 accompanied by his long time trainer, Michael Domingo, who was also his mentor at the defunct ALA Boxing Gym.
They immediately buckled down to training at the famous Wild Card Gym of coach Freddie Roach in Los Angeles alongside world-class fighters.
According to Santisima, he trained with former stablemate and WBO international featherweight champion Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo and former world champion Marlon Tapales at the Wild Card Gym.
“This is my second time in training here at Wild Card. My first training here, that was for my fight with (Emanuel) Navarrete. I have trained here for at least one week,” said Santisima as quoted by Cebu Daily News.
He said his training was more fruitful because he was able to spar with International Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas and Armenian world title challenger Azat Hovhannisyan.
“We had a sparring with champ Jerwin Ancajas. I'm still adjusting because I have just arrived,” commented Santisima in local dialect when he commenced his sparring sessions at Wild Card.
Santisima also had some sparring sessions with four-division world champion Donnie Nietes in Cebu before leaving for the United States.
Santisima sparred with Ancajas in rigid preparation for a big fight against two-time world title challenger Joet Gonzalez, the WBO No. 5 contender.
”It was great. I’m still adjusting here but our sparring was nice. He followed my opponent’s style and became a pressure fighter,” Santisima told SunStar Cebu.
“Their sparring went great even though it was Jeo’s first sparring here at the Wild Card. He did very well not to get outboxed even though he’s still adjusting. He didn’t show any signs of getting tired. We are thankful to Jerwin that he followed the style of Gonzalez. I expect Jeo to show a better performance in his next sparring,” Santisima’s trainer Michael Domingo added.
Domingo revealed that Brendan Gibbons will be hiring a sparring partner that has a similar orthodox fighting style with Gonzalez in the succeeding sparring session.
“For now, we have not yet found a sparring partner for Jeo. Jerwin is a southpaw but he knows how to fight orthodox,” said Domingo. “If there won’t be any sparring partners available, coach Joven (Jimenez) said that Jerwin is willing to help.”
Ancajas has long been a regular trainee at the Wild Card Boxing Club. He also sparred with Jonas Sultan in his preparations for his great upset win over the then undefeated Carlos Caraballo of Puerto Rico. Sultan was Santisima's former teammate at the now closed ALA Gym.
Ancajas is currently preparing for his 10th title defense against undefeated Argentinean challenger Fernando Martinez also on February 5 in the United States.
Santisima is grateful for the high caliber sparring with a world titlist like Ancajas. "His experience as a world champion is very different. It’s such a huge help,” he said.
After he lost to Navarrete in his first U.S. fight, Santisima grabbed successive stoppage victories over Marjon Piencenaves Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte by KO2 and Allan Alberca of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte by TKO1.
Santisima is 21-3 with 18 KOs, while Gonzalez is 24-2 with 14 KOs and a former WBO inter-continental featherweight champion.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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