By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Filipino Rev Santillan, the “Gentle Giant” has avenged the loss of his Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight title to Japan’s Kazuhiko Hidaka by scoring a savage eighth round TKO in a rematch, to regain the title at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
The southpaw Santillan was far from gentle as he hammered Hidaka with solid combinations and then nailed him with a vicious combination leading off with an uppercut and then decking the champion with a thundering right hook.
Santillan’s manager Rex “Wakee” Salud who is well-known in boxing circles and recently emerged as a friend and confidant of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today it was “a great fight and worthy of a championship.”
Well known Japanese matchmaker, manager and journalist Joe Koizumi reported that he considered the Santillan-Hidaka battle truly the “Fight of the Year” and that both fighters “put on a total war from the hot outset to the dramatic end.” The grudge rematch came about after Hidaka on the title from Santillan via a lopsided fourth round TKO last March when Santillan didn’t train properly when his girlfriend was found to have cancer.
This time around the lanky Filipino was in great shape and almost dropped Hidaka in the opening round, often rattling the Japanese with great combinations. However, Hidaka fought back and turned the tide over the next couple of rounds before Santillan suffered a bad cut which sparked a flurry from the Filipino that had Hidaka in trouble at the end of the round. Santillan pressed the action and after he decked Hidaka the Thai referee Pinit Prayadsab counted out the Japanese who was terribly groggy and in no condition to continue.
The time was 0:59 of the eighth round and at the time the end came, all three judges had Santillan ahead 67-66. With the win Santillan improved to 22-2-1 with 16 knockouts while Hidaka dropped to 22-5 with 16 KO’s. It was the third time Santillan won the title having previously regained it in a rematch with Hiroshi Watanabe.
