Ex-OPBF Champ Santillan Faces Kisaragi on Feb. 12!
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 30 Dec 2006
Former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) welterweight champion Rev 'Gentle Giant' Santillan sees action in a tune-up bout against Japanese Shana Kisaragi on February 12 at the Archaic Hall in Amagasaki, Japan before his planned crack at his old title.
Santillan had lost the OPBF title in his last fight, absorbing a split decision defeat at the hands of newly-crowned champion Hiroshi Yamaguchi last April 20 in Tokyo, Japan.
An immediate Santillan-Yamaguchi rematch was being planned, but reports from Japan had it that Yamaguchi wanted to defend his title once before facing the very durable Santillan.
To keep himself active, Santillan will also take part in a tune-up bout against Kisaragi, a 25-year-old neophyte from Osaka who holds a 5-3-3- win-loss-draw record with 2 KO's.
The Iloilo City-raised southpaw Santillan (22-3-1, 16 KO's) first won the OPBF diadem with a split decision verdict over Korean Suk Hyun Yun in 2001, defended it three times, before losing the title in a disputed fashion to Hiroshi Watanabe in late 2002.
He regained the title from Watanabe two years later, defended it once, before losing the crown once again to another Japanese Kazuhiko Hidaka in 2005 on a fourth-round knockout defeat.
In the rematch, Santillan stopped Hidaka in the eighth round of what was billed as "OPBF Fight of the Year" for 2005, before bowing to Yamaguchi in his last fight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.
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