Rene Santiago would need nothing greater than to come back out victorious in his hometown.
Sanitago will face Azael Villar in a conflict of fringe junior flyweight contenders on October 30, All Star Boxing introduced Tuesday. The ten-round bout will happen on the Coliseo Marcelo Trujillo in Sanitago’s hometown of Humacao, Puerto Rico and can stream dwell on ESPN+ in the USA and on ESPN Knockout all through Latin America (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
The Evening of Champions card will happen as a part of the thirty seventh annual World Boxing Group (WBO) Conference.
The venue holds particular which means for promoter Felix ‘Tuto’ Zabala, Jr., who’s the lead promoter of the cardboard, in affiliation with Miguel Cotto Promotions and H2 Promotions.
“My father did his first ever occasion right here in 1964 on the Estadio (Hiram) Bithorn between Florentino Fernandez and (Juan Carlos) ‘Rocky’ Rivero,” mentioned Zabala. “Now we’re again in our sixtieth anniversary and what higher approach with our WBO household and worldwide on the ESPN+ and ESPN Knockout platforms.”
Francisco ‘Paco’ Varcarcel, President of the WBO, agrees.
“We’re excited for this present as a part of our conference in Puerto Rico,” mentioned Varcarcel. “The matches are thrilling between contenders in toss’em fights. “Collectively, with the fee, we’ll appoint officers in attendance from all around the world to make this a historic night time.”
Santiago (12-4, 9 KOs) final fought on March 2, dropping a detailed unanimous choice to then-WBO world junior flyweight titleholder Jonathan Gonzalez. In his earlier struggle on October 27, Santiago received the interim WBO title by knocking out Kevin Vivas.
Previous to the loss to Gonzalez, Santiago had received three fights in a row since a call loss to Yudel Reyes in April 2022. Santiago is grateful for the chance to struggle in his hometown.
“This can be a dream come true preventing in my hometown for the primary time in my profession,” mentioned Santiago. “Thanks to the mayor of Humacao, Julio Giegel, for making this attainable together with my promoter, All Star Boxing, Inc. and the WBO.”
Villar (21-3-4, 15 KOs), who resides in Panama Metropolis, Panama, defeated Viva by unanimous choice in his final struggle on July 12. In his earlier struggle on March 8, Villar misplaced by choice to Jairo Noriega, who will likely be preventing Shokichi Iwata for the vacant WBO world junior flyweight title.
The 30-year-old has one defeat in his final 4 bouts.
Within the co-feature, flyweight Juan Carlos Camacho (17-1 1 No Contest, 8 KOs) of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico will sq. off in opposition to former world title challenger Jayson Mama (20-1, 10 KOs) of Common Santos Metropolis within the Philippines in a 10-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He may be reached at [email protected]
Comply with @FSalazarBoxing
