Joet Gonzales (left) and Jeo Santisima (right) strike a pose after their weigh-in for their WBO International featherweight championship bout in Fresno, California. | Screen grab from the weigh-in live streaming
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Zip-Sanman’s Jeo “Santino” Santisima passed the official weigh-in for his fight against American Joet Gonzales in the co-main event of ESPN+ fight card headlined by Jose Ramirez-Jose Pedraza WBO International super lightweight title in Fresno, California.
The 25-year old Santisima weighed in at 125.2 pounds while Gonzales tipped the scales at 125.8 pounds during their weigh-in for their match that was elevated to the WBO International featherweight championship.
Both boxers consider this fight crucial considering they are both ranked in the top ten of the WBO featherweight division.
Santisima is ranked No. 7 while Gonzales is a head of him at No. 6 with both eyeing long-time WBO world featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico.
Santisima and Gonzales have something in common after they fought and lost to Navarrete in their respective world title shots.
In 2020, Santisima fought Navarrete and lost via an 11th round technical knockout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Gonzales lost to Navarrete via unanimous decision against Navarrete in October 2021 in San Diego, California.
Santisima is coming from back-to-back victories after losing to Navarrete, beating fellow Pinoy boxers Marjon Piencenaves and Alan Alberca in non-title bouts to improve his record to 21 wins (18 knockouts) with three defeats.
Meanwhile, this will be Gonzales’s comeback fight after losing to Navarrete. The 28-year old American has a record of 24-2 (win-loss) with 14 knockouts wins.
On paper, Santisima has the slight upper hand. He has a higher knockout percentage of 67 percent compared to Gonzales’s 50 percent. Santisima is also an inch taller than Gonzales at 5-feet-6 while the latter stands at 5-feet-5. Gonzales’s reach is 68-inches over Santisima’s 67-inches.
/bmjo
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