CEBU CITY, Philippines — Gabriel Santisima walked into Korakuen Hall as the underdog. Ten rounds later, he walked out of the boxing arena with a title and the Japanese boxing crowd sitting in stunned silence.
On Saturday night, February 7, the 21-year-old Cebu-based Aroroy, Masbate native pulled off a career-defining upset. He outworked and outthought the highly rated Subaru Murata for a unanimous-decision victory to capture the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific super bantamweight title.
When the scores were read, the normally raucous Tokyo venue fell eerily quiet.
Judges Edward Ligas of Cebu and Mekin Sumon both had it 96-93, while Takeru Okinawa scored it wider at 97-92. The adjudicators all favored Santisima of the Cebu-based ZIP Sanman Boxing Gym where WBC world minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem belongs.
From the opening bell, it was clear Santisima was not there to be another statistic to Murata’s unbeaten record.