By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight champion Rev Santillan has lost by a 7th round TKO to reigning champion Motoki Sasaki of Japan in Tokyo .
Sasaki who is ranked No.1 5 by both the WBC and the WBA improved his record to 31-7-1 with 20 knockouts while Santillan dropped to 25-5-1 with 18 knockouts.
Well-known Japanese boxing writer, manager and matchmaker Joe Koizumi said the fight was a grudge match which followed a similar pattern to their first encounter when Santillan attempted a come-from-behind knockout but was stopped in his tracks by Sasaki who retaliated fiercely to drop Santillan twice in round seven, forcing the referee to call a halt.
Santillan who stood four inches taller than the champion started off well but Sasaki c came back in the second round to pile up the points and took command of the fight for the succeeding rounds with solid combinations.
The 31 year old Filipino southpaw landed a flurry of punches early in the seventh round and had the 33 year old Sasaki in trouble but the Japanese champion suddenly exploded and decked Santillan twice en route to the TKO victory at 2:43 of the seventh round.