Santisima suffers unanimous decision loss to Japanese boxer, fails in bid to win OPBF belt

Hayato Tsutsumi pose for the cameras after winning the OPBF featherweight title versus Jeo Santisima. | Photo from Guy Rich To be Multiple Undisputed Twitter page

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former world title challenger Jeo “Santino” Santisima suffered another heartbreaking defeat in Japan, this time in the hands of Japanese up-and-comer Hayato Tsutsumi for the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) featherweight title on Wednesday evening, May 31, 2023, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. 

Sanman boxer

Santisima, one of the banner boxers of Cebu-based ZIP Sanman Boxing Team, suffered a unanimous decision loss against the more agile and skilled Tsutsumi after 12 rounds. 

Judge Nowel Haduca scored the bout 118-110, Biney Martin saw the bout 120-108, and Takeru Okaniwa had it 119-109, all in favor of the 23-year-old Japanese boxer. 

READ: Jeo Santisima’s next mission: Defeat Japanese fighter Hayato Tsutsumi

The defeat dropped Santisima’s record to 22 wins with 6 defeats and 19 knockouts. It was Santisima’s back-to-back defeat after losing to another Japanese, Toshiki Shimomachi in Osaka, Japan last December. 

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Tsutsumi stretched his unbeaten record to three wins with no knockouts. Santisima is Tsutsumi’s third Filipino opponent he defeated. 

Tsutsumi impressively built his young promising career on defeating Filipino boxers since his pro debut early last year. He debuted with a unanimous decision win against Jhon Gemino followed by another unanimous decision victory against Pete Apolinar in the same year. 

Santisima vs Tsutsumi

During the bout on Wednesday evening, Santisima started off very well. He aggressively came out throwing combination after combination that forced Tsutsumi to up his guard. 

Santisima continued moving forward with his combinations in the next three rounds. 

READ: Santisima eyes another KO win in Japan vs fearsome foe

However, Tsutsumi absorbed all the blows and remained composed. The young Japanese boxer then established his sharp jabs and followed them with one-two combinations that landed perfectly into their targets. 

Also, Tsutsumi displayed superb counterpunches as Santisima continued to move forward. 

The fight momentum shifted in the latter rounds when Tsutsumi’s punch volume increased and started to batter Santisima with punches to the head and body. 

This kind of scenario lasted until the final bell rang, with Tsutsumi piling up enough points to get the three judges’ nods. 

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