A left straight to the jaw floored the Korean who outworked Santillan in two of the first three rounds before the rousing finish that brought the packed crowd to its feet.
Choi collapsed on all fours as Santillan landed the coup de grace just when it seemed like the Korean had the upper hand. Early in the fateful round, Choi charged out of his corner like a raging bull and unleashed a furious two-fisted attack that sent Santillan back on his heels. Santillan waited for Choi to punch himself out then found the opening. After throwing some 12 straight blows, Choi lowered his hands – probably to reenergize – and Santillan, in a flash, capitalized. Choi never saw what hit him.
To his credit, Choi got up before referee Bruce McTavish counted to 10 but was clearly in no condition to continue. His eyes were glassy and his legs, rubbery. McTavish stopped it to rescue the gutsy, previously unbeaten visitor. Ringside physician Dr. Nasser Cruz examined Choi before he climbed down the ring and said McTavish’s intervention prevented the incidence of serious injury.
Santillan’s trainer Pacing Flores, 75, said he was confident of victory despite the Korean’s strong start. He instructed Santillan not to lower his guard, to be patient, and to counter. Santillan followed Flores’ orders to the letter.
The win paved the way for Santillan to stake his title against Hiroshi Watanabe in Nagoya on June 9. The 5-10 1/2 slugger improved his record to 15-0-1, with 12 KOs. Watanabe’s mark dipped to 8-1-1.
It was another sellout at the Waterfront for Rex (Wakee) Salud who was recently cited as the country’s Promoter of the Year at the 2nd Elorde Boxing Awards Night.
In the companion mainer, Randy Suico battered Korean Sung Ho Yuh to a pulp and closed both the roughhouser’s eyes to capture the vacant OPBF superfeatherweight diadem via a sixth round technical knockout.
Yuh, who weighed in 7 1/2 pounds over the limit, tried to overpower Suico but was a sitting duck for his jarring jab-straight combinations. Blood trickled out of a cut near Yuh’s left eye in the third round as Suico scored with precision from long distance.
With both eyes almost completely shut to slits, Yuh could hardly see and resorted to wrestling tactics. The Korean grew desperate as his fortunes dimmed. When the bell rang to end the sixth round, Yuh shoved McTavish and appeared to hit the referee on the back. McTavish would’ve slapped a two-point deduction on Yuh for unsportsmanlike conduct but it wasn’t necessary. Before the start of the seventh round, Dr. Cruz examined Yuh in his corner and saw the inevitable. Yuh wouldn’t have lasted another round on his feet. McTavish called it a night.
Suico – who raised his record to 16-0, with 14 KOs, is set to figure in a non-title fight in the US before facing former OPBF champion Tiger Ari in his first defense, probably in November.