Southpaw Rev "Gentle Giant" Santillan of the Wakee Salud Stable is scheduled to defend his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight belt when he takes on undefeated Japanese prospect Hiroshi Yamaguchi on April 20 at the famed Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Santillan (22-2-1, 16 KO's), the Iloilo City-raised fighter now fighting out of Cebu, had regained the OPBf title last December 3 by knocking out former tormentor Kazuhiko Hidaka in the eighth round in what was dubbed "OPBF Fight of the Year" by well-respected Japanese boxing guru Joe Koizumi.
Hidaka, in their previous encounter, stopped Santillan in the fourth as the latter defended the title facing personal problems that kept him away from the right mental frame.
For the first time in his career, the 5'11 Santillan will be fighting an opponent who is slightly taller than him, and this may pose problems for the power-punching Santillan, one of RP boxing's class acts in and outside of the ring.
The Tokyo-based Yamaguchi, a right-handed fighter ranked no. 7 by the OPBF, boasts of a 14-0-1 win-loss-draw record with 10 KO's in a pro career that started in 2001. He has been successful fighting against Thai boxers, although it remains to be seen if he has what it takes to bang with heavy-handed fighters like Santillan.
"I have kept myself in good shape. I'm always training in the gym, even if there's no fight. So I will be ready for the fight," Santillan said in a text message to this writer.
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