AFTER Gabriel Santisima, Alex Santisima Jr. is set to try and bring a championship belt home to the Philippines.
Alex will face China’s Wensong Liu for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) Far East featherweight title on June 22, 2025, in Yantai.
Alex is looking to extend his streak to four and win his first regional title from one of the four major boxing sanctioning bodies. He previously held a belt from the World Boxing Federation (WBF), a minor world boxing organization.
The 25-year-old Alex suffered his first career setback last year, losing to undefeated Japanese prospect Suabru Murata via a seventh-round knockout in Japan.
Since that loss, Alex has bounced back with three straight wins over Justine Darap, Ryan Rey Ponteras and Ponciano Rimandiman.
Meanwhile, Liu is a former regional champion who once held the WBC Asian and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental featherweight titles.
He had a rough stretch last year, losing to Russia’s Artur Subkhankulov and Japan’s Ryo Nakai, but recently rebounded with a sixth-round technical knockout victory over Hanle Xie.
Alex is 11-1 with five knockouts, while Liu is 12-4-1 with nine knockouts.
Alex’s brother, Gabriel, failed to win the WBO Oriental super-bantamweight strap, losing by unanimous decision to Zhong Lui last month.
Alex is one of four brothers from Masbate who are currently pro boxers. His two other brothers are Dave and former world title challenger Jeo. / EKA