René “Chulo” Santiago of Puerto Rico has achieved a notable milestone in his boxing career, becoming a unified world champion Wednesday with a split-decision victory over Japan’s Kyosuke Takami. The bout, held at the historic Kokugikan arena in Tokyo – traditionally a venue for sumo wrestling – saw Santiago add the WBA minimumweight title to his existing WBO belt. This win further solidifies Puerto Rico’s growing presence in the world boxing scene, joining unified champions Amanda Serrano and Oscar Collazo [[2]].
Puerto Rico’s René “Chulo” Santiago is a unified world champion. The flyweight contender secured the title Wednesday in Japan, defeating local favorite Kyosuke Takami by split decision.
The judges’ scorecards read 115-113 and 117-111 in favor of Santiago, while a third judge scored the bout 116-112 for Takami.
With the victory, Santiago retained his World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimumweight belt and added the World Association of Boxing (WBA) title in a fight held at the iconic Kokugikan arena in Ryōgoku, traditionally a sumo wrestling venue.
Santiago improves to 15-4 with nine knockouts, while Takami suffered the first defeat of his career, falling to 10-1 with eight knockouts.
Despite limited broadcast access to the fight card in the Americas, reports from those utilizing VPN connections highlighted Santiago’s experience and skill. He showcased polished boxing technique, utilizing effective lateral movement and distance control. Santiago consistently established his position to land clean combinations and evade exchanges, intelligently managing the pace of the fight.
Santiago – who won the WBO belt on March 13th with a unanimous decision victory over Japan’s Shokichi Iwata, also in Japan – joins fellow Puerto Rican champions Amanda Serrano and Oscar Collazo as unified world titleholders.
Serrano, the only Puerto Rican fighter – male or female – to become an undisputed world champion, currently holds the WBA and WBO featherweight (126 pounds) titles.
Collazo is the unified WBO and WBA minimumweight (105 pounds) champion.
