GABRIEL Santisima is set to defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-Pacific super-bantamweight title for the first time against Marsolo Pandian in "Sanman 102" on July 11, 2026, at the Malungon Sunken Arena in Sarangani Province.
The 21-year-old Santisima captured the WBO Asia-Pacific belt on Feb. 7, 2026, with a unanimous decision upset over previously unbeaten Japanese prospect Subaru Murata in Japan.
It was the biggest victory of his career so far.
Santisima previously challenged for a regional title in 2025 but lost by unanimous decision to Zhong Liu in China for the WBO Oriental super-bantamweight crown.
He is currently ranked No. 7 by the WBO and No. 12 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
Santisima trains under Michael Domingo at the Zip-Sanman Wellness Center in Cebu City and is a teammate of former world champion Melvin Jerusalem.
Pandian, on the other hand, is the Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) super-bantamweight champion. He won the title with a first-round knockout of Ricky Cajutol on Jan. 26, 2026, in Pangasinan. He also captured the youth version of the belt after defeating Mark Sabang by majority decision last year.
Santisima boasts an impressive win-loss-draw slate 10-1-1 with seven knockouts, while Pandian owns a 6-1-2 record with two knockouts. / EKA
