A few more big fights needed, says Aldeguer

FOR ALA Promotions CEO Michael Aldeguer, it would still be too early to tell if World Boxing Organization (WBO) oriental super bantamweight champion Jeo “Santino” Santisima and newly crowned WBO world youth super flyweight king Kevin Jake “KJ” Cataraja are ready for world title fights.

Santisima and Cataraja pulled off unanimous decision victories over their Mexican foes last Saturday evening in the Pinoy Pride 45: Quest For Greatness at the IEC Convention Center.

Santisima defeated Uriel Lopez while Cataraja beat Hugo Reyes after 12 rounds of boxing.

Aldeguer said both Filipino boxers showed promise, but he believes more fights can make them more prepared for world title bouts.

“I think they learned so much from this fight,” said Aldeguer. “This is a stepping stone for them. Maybe a few more big fights [are needed] to test them both. We want to see both of them going up against former world champions to prepare them for world title bouts in the future.”

Santisima admitted his skills were tested on Saturday.

Santisima survived 12 rounds of back-and-forth boxing against Lopez, who was his first Mexican foe. It was also his first fight that reached a full 12 rounds.

The 22-year-old Aroroy, Masbate, native Santisima successfully defended his title in a no-holds-barred slugfest against Lopez.

Judges Arnel Pasion and Edward Ligas both had it 117-111, while Romar Embodo saw the fight at 118-110, all in favor of Santisima, who improved to 17 wins (14 knockouts), two losses and no draws.

Lopez, a WBC Latino champion, dropped to 13-7-1 (win-loss-draw).

“It was the toughest fight of my career. He was my first Mexican opponent, and it was my first fight that reached the 12 rounds,” said Santisima.

Santisima’s trainer, Michael Domingo, said that there are still a lot of things to work on with his ward.

“He has got a lot of things to improve on most especially self-discipline, his timing and of course maturity. But I believe he learned a lot from this fight and I believe that he will get better and better,” said Domingo.

Cataraja remained unbeaten in nine fights while Reyes dropped to 9-2-1.

The scores were 99-91, 99-91, 100-90, all for Cataraja.

As lopsided as the fight was, Cataraja said he still needs to improve some aspects of his boxing skills.

“The biggest lesson I learned from this fight is not to be complacent. I think I have a lot of things to improve on in terms of my skills but overall, I was very satisfied with what I showed,” said the 23-year-old BS Criminology graduate.