Puerto Rico's Rene "El Chulo" Santiago has retained his unified WBA and WBO light-flyweight titles in hostile territory, outpointing Japan's Masataka Taniguchi by unanimous decision over 12 rounds at Korakuen Hall on April 3. The judges returned cards of 115-113, 116-112 and 117-110, with a fifth-round knockdown proving the pivot that tilted the fight.
Santiago moved to 16-4 (9 KOs) and joined Xander Zaya and Oscar Collazo as the three Puerto Rican boxers currently holding unified world titles. Taniguchi, a former WBO minimumweight champion, dropped to 21-6 (15 KOs) after being stopped in his bid to become a two-division champion.
The fight split into two distinct halves. Taniguchi, coming off a fifth-round TKO of Takeru Inoue in August, started faster, using his speed and combinations to take the opening rounds on most cards. The momentum changed decisively in the fifth when Santiago scored the knockdown. From there, the Puerto Rican shifted into a measured, counter-punching mode - moving, picking his shots and using footwork to deny Taniguchi the extended exchanges the Japanese fighter needed.
Santiago had already unified the WBA and WBO belts the previous December, edging Kyosuke Takami by split decision on the undercard of Tsutsumi vs Donaire. Saturday's result was his first defence of the unified belts and his first win on the road at title level, against a former world champion on home soil.
The night's co-feature produced the biggest upset of the card. Yukinori Oguni defeated former Filipino world champion Marlon Tapales by unanimous decision, dictating the pace throughout and landing consistently to take all three judges' cards. Tsukuru Midorikawa halted Hisashi Kato in the seventh round, Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa edged Ryusei Kurobe by majority decision and Kenshin Ogami stopped Jonathan Galetto in the second.
Santiago's defence against Taniguchi reinforces his place among the sport's top light-flyweights and keeps the 105-108lbs picture lively as Collazo and Zaya continue to press in their own divisions.