COMING in as a huge underdog, Alex Santisima Jr. did the unthinkable by scoring an eighth-round technical knockout upset over former world champion Yukinori Oguni on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
It was a competitive contest, with both fighters having their moments throughout the fight.
Going into the eighth round, the 26-year-old Santisima was ahead by one point on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
At that point, Santisima pushed the tempo and connected with a wicked right straight that wobbled Oguni. But the tough Japanese veteran valiantly fought back and exchanged heavy blows with Santisima.
Moments later, Santisima landed a series of body shots before connecting with a solid one-two combination that backed Oguni up, forcing the referee to intervene and stop the fight at the 1:08 mark.
“It was a really good performance. He really showed what he and coach Michael (Domingo) trained for,” Sanman Promotions CEO JC Manangquil told SunStar Cebu. “Let’s see what’s next. There are a lot of options for him. But we’ll see what’s best for Alex.”
Santisima will most likely break into the world rankings following his win over Oguni, who was ranked by three of the four major boxing sanctioning bodies.
Coming into the fight, Oguni was rated No. 6 by the World Boxing Organization, No. 11 by the World Boxing Association and No. 12 by the World Boxing Council in the super-bantamweight division.
The 38-year-old Oguni had just come off a unanimous decision win over former unified world champion Marlon Tapales last April.
With the win, Santisima improved his record to 14-2 with eight knockouts, while Oguni dropped to 24-5-3 with nine knockouts. / EKA
