Rene Santiago would have wanted nothing more than to come out victorious in his hometown.
Sanitago will face Azael Villar in a fringe junior flyweight bout on October 30, All Star Boxing announced on Tuesday. The 10-round bout will take place at the Coliseo Marcelo Trujillo in Sanitago’s hometown of Humacao, Puerto Rico and will air live on ESPN+ in the United States and ESPN Knockout across Latin America (8 pm ET / 5 p.m. PT).
I Night of Champions The card will be part of the 37th annual World Boxing Organization (WBO) Conference.
The venue features special mention for promoter Felix ‘Tuto’ Zabala, Jr., who is the main promoter of the card, in partnership with Miguel Cotto Promotions and H2 Promotions.
“Dad made his debut here in 1964 at the Estadio (Hiram) Bithorn between Florentino Fernandez and (Juan Carlos) ‘Rocky’ Rivero,” Zabala said. “Now we’re back in our 60th year and what better way than with our family of WBO and worldwide on ESPN+ and ESPN Knockout platforms.”
Francisco ‘Paco’ Varcarcel, WBO President, agrees.
“We enjoyed this exhibition that is part of our meeting in Puerto Rico,” said Varcarcel. “The games are exciting between the gangs in the toss’em battles. “In collaboration with the commission, we will nominate existing officials from around the world to make this a historic night.”
Santiago (12-4, 9 KOs) last fought on March 2, losing a unanimous decision to WBO junior flyweight world title holder Jonathan Gonzalez. In his last fight on October 27, Santiago won the interim WBO title by knocking out Kevin Vivas.
Prior to the loss to Gonzalez, Santiago had won three fights in a row since losing by decision to Yudel Reyes in April 2022. Santiago is very grateful for the opportunity to fight in his hometown.
“This is a dream come true, fighting in my hometown for the first time in my career,” said Santiago. “Thank you to the mayor of Humacao, Julio Giegel, for making this possible and my promoter, All Star Boxing, Inc. and the WBO.”
Villar (21-3-4, 15 KOs), who lives in Panama City, Panama, defeated Viva by unanimous decision in his last fight on July 12. In his last fight on March 8, Villar lost by decision to Jairo Noriega, who won. he will be fighting Shokichi Iwata for the vacant WBO junior flyweight title.
The 30-year-old has lost once in his last four matches.
In the flyweight bout, Juan Carlos Camacho (17-1 1 No Contest, 8 KOs) of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico will take on former world title contender Jayson Mama (20-1, 10 KOs) of General Santos City, Philippines in a 1-round bout. 10.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
