GABRIEL Santisima is out for vengeance as he prepares to challenge his brother’s tormentor, World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-Pacific super-bantamweight champion Subaru Murata, on Feb. 7, 2026, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2024, Murata knocked out Santisima’s brother, Alex Santisima Jr., in the seventh round of a scheduled eight-rounder.
Now, Gabriel has the chance to exact revenge on Murata, win a regional title, and potentially break into the world ratings.
Santsima endured a rough start to his 2025 campaign, suffering back-to-back defeats in international fights. He absorbed his first career loss via unanimous decision to Ruslan Belousov in Russia on Jan. 31.
A few months later, he lost by a close unanimous decision to Chinese boxer Zhong Liu in a WBO Oriental super-bantamweight contest in China.
Santisima later returned to the winning column, closing out his 2025 campaign with unanimous decision wins over Ramel Antaran and Jason Mopon.
Murata, meanwhile, won the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific belt with a ninth-round stoppage of Kaito Yamasaki in late 2024. He successfully defended the title twice last year, knocking out Filipino contender Joseph Ambo in the second round and stopping veteran Yukinori Oguni in the sixth.
Murata is rated No. 7 by both the World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC), No. 10 by the WBO, and No. 13 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
Santisima has a respectable record of 9-2-1 with seven knockouts, while Murata has an impressive slate of 10-0, all by knockouts. / EKA