One of 2025’s under-the-radar fighters of the year, unified light flyweight champion Rene Santiago, will once again head into hostile territory to face former minimumweight champ Masataka Taniguchi on April 3rd in Tokyo
.Puerto Rico’s Santiago (15-4, 9 KO) picked up an interim WBO title in 2023 before falling to countryman Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez in a title consolidation four months later. After a quiet 2024, he outclassed heavy hitter Shokichi Iwata at Tokyo’s Kokugikan to win the real belt last
March. Jumping right into a unification with WBA titlist and highly touted wunderkind Kyosuke Takami, he once again flipped the script with a split decision victory.
Taniguchi (21-5, 15 KO) took out “Bimbito” Mendez to win the WBO minimumweight title, stopped an overweight Kai Ishizawa in his inaugural defense, then got blown to bits by Melvin Jerusalem in a 2023 shocker. He’s 5-1 since, beating weak opposition but notably battling the very capable Thanongsak Simsri to a split decision in their vacant title bout.
Whoever wins here will likely be tapped to face top-rated WBA contender Daiya Kira later this year.
The show will also see former super bantamweight champ Marlon Tapales (41-4, 22 KO) continue down the comeback trail against faded ex-champ Yukinori Oguni (23-4-3, 9 KO). Tapales’ four wins since his 2023 rout at the hands of Naoya Inoue have all come against marginal competition, and though Oguni is a cut above that chaff, it’s not by much; he’s 37, a decade removed from his one-fight title reign, and suffered stoppage defeats in two of his last four.
