Santiago vs Taniguchi

Who won Santiago vs Taniguchi?

Rene Santiago beat Masataka Taniguchi by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Friday, April 3rd, 2026, at Korakuen Hall, Tokyo.

The scorecards were announced in favor of winner Rene Santiago.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Jr Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 108 pounds (7.7 stone or 49 kg).

This contest was for the WBO jr flyweight championship of the world.

Santiago was making his 3rd defense of the WBO World Junior Flyweight Championship. He won this belt against Shokichi Iwata in March 2025. He had held this belt for 1 year and 21 days.

He was also defending WBA World Light Flyweight Championship for the first time. He won this belt against Kyosuke Takami in December 2025. He had held this title for 3 months and 17 days.

The undercard featured the clash of Oguni vs Tapales.

Santiago vs Taniguchi stats

Rene Santiago stepped into the ring with a record of 15 wins, 4 losses, and 0 draws.

Masataka Taniguchi made his way to the ring with a record of 21 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws.

Rene Santiago was the older man by 1 year, at 33 years old.

Taniguchi had a height advantage of 1 inch over Santiago.

Rene Santiago fought out of the orthodox stance, while Masataka Taniguchi was a southpaw.

Santiago was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 7 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2014, 1 year and 4 months earlier than Taniguchi, whose first professional fight was in 2016. He had fought 49 fewer professional rounds, totaling 130 compared to Taniguchi's 179.

Masataka Taniguchi was ranked number 7 by the WBA, and 4 by the WBO in the 108lb division.

Santiago vs Taniguchi form

Masataka Taniguchi had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Thanongsak Simsri on December 15, 2024, by split decision in their 12 round contest at Sumiyoshi SportsCenter, Osaka, Japan.

Prior to that, he had been beaten by Melvin Jerusalem on January 6, 2023, by technical knockout in the 2nd round in their WBO World Minimumweight championship fight at EDION Arena Osaka, Osaka.

Going into that contest, he had won against Kai Ishizawa on April 22, 2022, by technical knockout in the 11th round in their WBO World Minimumweight championship fight at Korakuen Hall, Tokyo.

Before that, he had beaten Wilfredo Mendez on December 14, 2021, by technical knockout in the 11th round in their WBO World Minimumweight championship fight at Kokugikan, Tokyo.

He had defeated Tatsuro Nakashima on June 7, 2021, by technical knockout in the 5th round at Korakuen Hall, Tokyo.

Activity check

Santiago's last 4 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 1 month and 1 day, which means he had been fighting approximately every 6 months and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 46 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 11.5 rounds on average.

Taniguchi's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 9 months and 27 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 18 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 41 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 8.2 rounds on average.

What time did Santiago vs Taniguchi start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 12:00 PM UTC at Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan, which was 8:00 AM EST or 5:00 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 1:00 PM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Santiago vs Taniguchi?

Sorry, we couldn’t find any historical odds for Santiago vs Taniguchi.