The other fight

There’s a Filipino fighting in the undercard of tomorrow’s Yokohama main event featuring World Boxing Council (WBC) superflyweight champion Masamori Tokuyama and challenger Gerry Peñalosa.

Orient and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) welterweight titlist Rivero (Rev) Santillan of Jaro, Iloilo, stakes his 147-pound crown against Japan-based Korean slugger Kenji Go in what is billed as the "other" fight in the blockbuster show at the Yokohama Gym.

Santillan, 23, wrested the OPBF crown on a split 12-round verdict over tough Korean Sukhyun Yun in Cebu last January. The lanky (almost six-foot tall) Filipino floored Yun twice but couldn’t finish off the durable defending champion in an action-packed thriller. Santillan decked Yun with an uppercut—his favorite punch—in the fifth and the Korean fell once more in the seventh. Down the stretch, Yun rallied to put Santillan on the defensive but ran out of time. Santillan held on for the biggest win in his career.

Santillan was "rediscovered" by Cebu businessman Tony Aldeguer’s trusted right hand man Sammy Gello-ani. Both Santillan and Gello-ani are from Iloilo. Gello-ani found Santillan and brought him to train in Cebu.

Before Santillan’s rediscovery, he had turned pro and posted a pair of four-round wins in Manila. Then, he reverted back to amateur status and won a gold at the Philippine National Games in Cebu in 1997. When Gello-ani invited Santillan to Cebu, he was back as a pro.

It’s not anomalous for a pro to become an amateur fighter. International Amateur Boxing Association president Anwar Chowdry once said he will allow the reversion of a fighter who was never rated in the top 10 and had fought only once or twice in the pros. Ex-pros who were reinstated as amateurs and went on to capture gold medals in the Asian Games were Oleg Maskaev and Ruslan Chagaev, both of Uzbekistan.

On his second stint as a pro, Santillan strung up 10 straight knockouts to earn the crack at Yun’s throne.

Santillan, the sixth of seven children born to poor farmers, resembles the legendary Tommy (The Hitman) Hearns in style. Both Santillan and Hearns are long-armed and elongated. And they both pack dynamite in their fists.

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Last Aug. 1, Santillan was held to a split 12-round draw by Japanese challenger Hiroshi Watanabe in the first defense of his OPBF title in Nagoya. The Filipino knocked down Watanabe with a right uppercut-left hook combination in the third and dominated the action with his spearing left straight. Scoring judge David Chung of Korea played it safe and scored a 115-all draw, Filipino judge Alex Vidal saw it a lopsided 117-111 for Santillan and Japanese judge Takaomi Ito, 117-115 for Watanabe.

Against Go, Santillan faces a rugged devil-may-care, kamikaze-style brawler. Go’s battlecry is no retreat, no surrender – reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao. It’s either Go knocks out his opponent or he gets knocked out trying. His record is 9-3-1, with seven KOs. All his three losses were by knockout, twice in the first round. And four of his seven knockout wins were in the first round.

Go, 25, has never fought a Filipino and has seen action exclusively in Osaka where he is based. Last year, he was stopped by So Kubota in one round but a few months later, halted Kubota in the fifth of a wild rematch. Go is coming off three straight wins.

Of course, we’re all looking forward to the Peñalosa-Tokuyama fight tomorrow night. But let’s not sell the Santillan-Go fight short—it’s a sumptuous appetizer for a delicious main dish.

Postscript. Condolences to good friend and well-liked sports photographer Tony Lu whose mother Go Kim Nio, also known as Romana Go, passed away last Sept. 17. Tony was in Kuala Lumpur for the Southeast Asian Games when his mother died. He flew back to Manila the day after—the 18th which was his birthday. Tony’s mother was 92. She will be brought from the Funeraria Paz on Araneta Ave. at 9 this morning to the Chinese Cemetery for cremation. Tony is the third of 10 children. Tony is grateful to Alaska team physician Dr. Facundo Sun for taking care of his mother until the end . . . Condolences also to another good friend and Inquirer sports columnist Henry Liao whose father Jose Ma. or Jimmy died at the age of 83 last Tuesday. Henry’s father lies in state at the Arlington Funeral Parlor on Araneta Ave. and will be interred at the Manila Memorial Park on Wednesday. Henry is the youngest of eight children.