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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Santillan Loses title
By Rommel C. Manlosa
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Rev “Gentle Giant” Santillan lost his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight belt after a controversial split decision loss during a bloody 12-round encounter Thursday night against undefeated Hiroshi Yamaguchi at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Referee Anek Hongtongkam of Thailand scored the bout 114-113 and Ukrid Sarasa of Japan saw it 115-113 both for Yamaguchi, while Alex Vidal of the Philippines scored it 115-112 for Santillan.
Santillan’s camp was so furious with the decision after the Iloilo-native fighter put the Japanese fighter on the floor in the 11th round.
Santillan, who lost the title for the third time, dominated the third until the sixth rounds and won the 10th round. He yielded the first, second and the eighth to the ninth.
Speed
Yamaguchi, a former Japan national champion, displayed his speed in the first two rounds that forced a gash above the left eye of the Filipino.
However, Santillan fought back with much gusto as he dominated the next five rounds, inflicting damage on the challenger, including a cut over Yamaguchi left eye during the third.
While bleeding in the next four rounds, the Japanese challenger found a way to neutralize the punches of Santillan from the seventh to the ninth.
Santillan adjusted his game and shifted his target to the body, which slowed down the challenger and eventually knocked him down in the 11th round.
Final round
Santillan tried to end the fight after the mandatory eight-count, but Yamaguchi withstood the barrage of punches until the bell.
Santillan went for the kill in the final round, while Yamaguchi earned points from the distance.
Yamaguchi is the third Japanese who stripped Santillan of his 147-pound belt. The first was Hiroshi Watanabe, followed by Kazuhiko Hidaka. In both previous losses, Santillan was able to regain the belt in the rematch.
The defeat dropped Santillan to a 22-3-1 (16 KOs), while Yamaguchi improved to 15-0-1 (11 KOs).
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 22, 2006 issue)
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