Alex Santisima stuns former world champ Oguni in massive Tokyo upset

TOKYO, Japan — Alex Santisima shocked the boxing world on Aug. 16, upsetting former world champion and world-rated Yukinori Oguni via an eighth-round technical knockout at Korakuen Hall.

With the victory, Santisima Jr., one of the Santisima brothers in boxing, improved his record to 14 wins, including eight knockouts, against two defeats. The 26-year-old Aroroy, Masbate native, who is now based in Cebu and represents ZIP Sanman, also extended his winning streak to three fights.

Meanwhile, Oguni, 38, absorbed his fifth defeat with 24 wins, nine knockouts and three draws. Oguni became known as a notable Filipino slayer, beating the likes of former world champion Marlon Tapales along with Jonjon Estrada, JP Macadumpis, Eric Rapada, and Gedeon Amba.

READ: Santisima, Oguni make weight ahead of Tokyo showdown

Like most Filipino boxers fighting in Japan, Santisima entered the bout as a heavy underdog but fought Oguni toe-to-toe from the opening bell, immediately taking the initiative and dictating the pace with timely combinations to the head and body.

Oguni tried to regain control with his reach and jab, using his punches to keep Santisima at bay. But the Filipino kept pressing forward, absorbing Oguni’s best shots while answering with accurate counters to the head and body.

READ: Gabriel Santisima stuns Japanese WBO champion in Tokyo

The fight remained competitive, with both fighters having their moments. There were stretches when Oguni appeared to be taking control and had the Tokyo crowd on its feet, only for Santisima to quickly respond with combinations of his own.

As the rounds went by, however, Santisima increasingly got the better of their exchanges. He repeatedly found openings in Oguni’s defense and landed clean, powerful punches while the former world champion occasionally stood in front of him and absorbed the shots.

Santisima turned up the pressure in the final three rounds, throwing more combinations and forcing Oguni into close-range exchanges. Oguni valiantly fought back and landed his own punches, at times forcing Santisima to give ground, but the Filipino consistently answered with counter hooks and combinations.

In the eighth round, Santisima sensed that the upset was within reach and increased his attack. He caught Oguni with a series of clean punches before unloading a powerful combination punctuated by a right hook.

Oguni tried to fight back, but Santisima’s relentless assault proved too much. Referee Katsuhiko Nakamura stepped in to stop the bout, giving Santisima a stunning eighth-round TKO victory over the former world champion.

In an interview with CDN Digital, Santisima recalled how he sensed Oguni’s downfall in the eighth round when his solid punches landed cleanly on its targets.

“Na igo jud siya sa combination. Ug na igo sa solid punch na straight mao to na gi stop na sa referee kay nag sige na ug kaigo,” said Santisima Jr.

(He was really caught by the combination. Then he got hit by a solid straight punch, and that’s when the referee stopped the fight because he kept getting hit.)

“Ako jud gipaningkamotan nga ma K.O kay kung ma abot ug decision, dehado man.”

(I really tried to get the knockout because if the fight went to a decision, I would be at a disadvantage.)

After the victory, Santisima thanked his family, trainer Michael Domingo, promoter Jim Claude Manangquil and manager Nobuyuki Matsuura for their support.

Santisima was overjoyed by his huge upset win.

“Nalipay ko kay nakadaog ko diris a Japan kay dako kaayo ni nga opportunity sa ako-a. Ug naningkamot lang jud ko sa training ug gihimo lang nako ang mga advise sa akong coach sa training ug sa dula na,” said Santisima Jr.

(I’m happy that I won here in Japan because this is a very big opportunity for me. I just worked hard in training and followed the advice of my coach, both during training and in the fight.)

“Ug syempre akong pamilya akong inspiration diri nga dula.”

(And of course, my family is my inspiration in this fight.)

Santisima also vowed to continue working hard, improve his skills and prepare for an even tougher challenge in his next fight as he looks to build on the biggest victory of his career.

“Ganahan ko sunod fight kadtong mga naa sa world rankings aron mo taas pud akong rank. Para mahimong world champion puhon,” Santisima Jr. said.

(I want my next fight to be against someone in the world rankings so I can improve my ranking as well. Hopefully, I can become a world champion someday.

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