Daniel Santos (boxer)
Encyclopedia
Daniel Santos is a Puerto Rican
professional boxer
. As an amateur Santos represented Puerto Rico in international events, including the 1990 and 1992 Junior World Championships, Pan American Boxing Tournament, Goodwill Games
, 1995 Pan American Games
and the 1996 Summer Olympics
, where he won a bronze medal
in the Welterweight Division. Santos debuted as a professional in 1996. Santos won the World Boxing Organization Welterweight
championship on June 5, 2000. On March 16, 2002 he vacated the welterweight division's championship in order to compete against Yori Boy Campas
for the vacant World Boxing Organization Light middleweight
championship. Santos defended this championship on four occasions, against Mehrdud Takaloo (in a fight where he won the World Boxing Union
Light middleweight championship), Fulgencio Zúñiga
, Michael Lerma and Antonio Margarito
before losing it to Sergiy Dzindziruk
by unanimous decision in a fight that took place on December 3, 2005. On July 11, 2008, Santos won his third professional championship, knocking out Joachim Alcine
in six rounds to win the World Boxing Association
's light middleweight title.
. Santos won the gold medal on this tournament. In 1994 Santos represented Puerto Rico in the Goodwill Games
that took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Here, Santos finished third in his division and won the bronze medal. His next international participation was in the 1995 Pan American games
celebrated in Mar del Plata
, Argentina
, where he won the silver medal. The result of the championship fight was controversial, when David Reid
won the fight by decision after Santos scored a knockdown during the course of the contest. Santos represented Puerto Rico once again at the 1996 Summer Olympics
organized in Atlanta, Georgia
. Here he competed in three fights, he defeated two adversaries by unanimous decision, these were: Kabil Lahsen of Morocco
with score of 16-4 and Nariman Atayev
of Uzbekistan
with a score of 28-15. In his first fight he defeated Ernest Atangana Mboa of Cameroon
by RSC (referee stopping contest) at the 2:54 mark of the first round. His last fight was against Oleg Saitov
of Russia where he lost by points with score of 11-13. He finished the competition in the third global place and won the bronze medal, with this medal Santos became the sixth Puerto Rican boxer to win a Olympic medal. Daniel finished his amateur career compiling a record of 117 fights won and three defeats.
, in a fight where he won by technical knockout in the first round. Following this fight Santos compiled a record of twenty-one victories, one defeat and one draw before competing for a world championship. During this period Santos boxed in the welterweight division, his adversaries in this stage of his career included: Bernard Gray, Miguel Gonzalez, Fidel Avendao, Juan Caslos Rodriguez, William Ruiz and Humberto Rodriguez. The first draw in Santos' career occurred in a fight with Jose Luis Verdugo, that was part of a card that took place in El Cajon, California
. On May 7, 1999 Santos competed against Kofi Jantuah in Las Vegas, Nevada
. Jantuah won this contest by technical knockout in the fifth round, marking Santos' first defeat in the professional circuit.
Santos fought Ahmed Kotiev for the World Boxing Organization's welterweight championship on November 27, 1999. Kotiev retained the championship by split decision. The scores of the judges were 115-113 and 115-113 in favor of Kotiev and 117-111 in favor of Santos. The fight was subsequently described as a "competitive and highly entertaining fight" and the result was reviewed as a "disputed" close split decision. On May 6, 2000 these two boxers competed in a rematch of their previous fight. In the fifth round Santos won the fight by knockout, in the process winning his first professional championship, the World Boxing Organization's championship.
On July 21, 2000, Santos defended the welterweight championship against Giovanni Parisi
in Calabria
, Italy. Santos won the fight by knockout in the fourth round. Following the fight Parisi stated that the welterweight championship was always his interest as he wanted to become the first Italian to win world championships in three different divisions. In this interview he claimed that his training prior to the fight was insufficient. Giovanni said: "We battled in Reggio Calabria, a coin toss from Sicily, and he KOed me during the 4th round. I have no excuses. I didn’t train properly."
His second defense was against Neil Sinclair in Yorkshire
, Great Britain
. In the first round Sinclair's offensive was effective and he scored a knockdown on the defending champion. On the second round Santos responded to Sinclair's strategy and won the fight by knockout. Prior to the fight Sinclair noted that a fight between Santos and him was supposed to happen eight years before, "We were both in the 1992 World junior championships in Montreal. We were both at the same weight and were at other side of the draw from each other and ended up with bronze medals. So I have watched him fight in person and shook hands on the podium. If we had both won our semi-finals we would have faced each other." Sinclair also stated that he expected to win based on his training, he said that all of his sparring partners were southpaws since Santos is one, this preparation also included contracting a new trainer.
On July 21, 2001, Santos defended against Antonio Margarito
in a card that took place in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
. This marked the first time that Santos fought a world title fight in Puerto Rico. At the moment of the fight Margarito was the mandatory challenger appointed by the World Boxing Organization, and it was televised on Showtime Too. The fight ended in at the 2:11 mark on the first round when the fight was stopped due to a large injury over Margarito's right eye, the cut caused by an accidental head butt. The fight was declared a no-contest and Santos retained the welterweight championship by default. Following the conclusion of the contest both competitors were visibly angered at the sudden conclusion.
in a fight that took place at Bally's Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
. Santos won the fight when referee Joe Cortez intervened in the eleventh round. During the course of the fight numerous combinations hurt Campas and cut his face, in the eleventh round following one of Santos' punches Campas informed Cortez that his vision was not functioning properly. At the moment of the fight's conclusion the scores of the judges were 99-91, 97-93 and 99-90 in favor of Santos. On August 17, 2002, Santos defended this championship for a first time against Mehrdud Takaloo, in a fight that also involved the World Boxing Union Light middleweight championship. The event took place in the Cardiff Castle
located in Cardiff
, Wales
. Takaloo began the fight by using his right hand often and on the fourth round he scored a knockdown. As the fight progressed Takaloo began to show signs of exhaustion and Santos managed to have a strong performance in the second half of the fight. Takaloo received cuts around both of his eyes which made the referee consider stopping the fight twice in the tenth round. When the fight ended Santos won the contest by unanimous decision and the judges' scores were 116-111, 116-112, 117-110.
On January 14, 2004, Warrior's Boxing Promotions announced that they had signed Santos to exclusively acquire the rights to promote the fights where he performed. At the moment of the announcement Santos said that he expected to have a productive business relationship with the promotion, and highlighted the company's organization, he said: “I am very impressed with the Warriors organization and believe that they will provide me with the platform to show the world that I am truly one of the best champions competing today.” The executive director of the promotion, Jessie Robinson said that the company had been scouting Daniel for years, his words were: “We have had our eye on Santos for the past two years and strongly feel that he is a serious player in the junior middleweight division. We will be announcing our long term plans for Mr. Santos shortly.”
On September 11, 2004 Santos fought in a rematch against Antonio Margarito as part of the undercard of the Cotto-Pinto undercard. Early in the fight Santos' strategy consisted of connecting with short punches with his left arm, including a strong impact to Margarito's face in the first round. In the fifth round Margarito connected several strong punches to his head and body. Throughout the course of the fight both boxers fought at close quarters which led to their heads hitting against each other several times. Margarito's face began bleeding in the sixth round which led to the referee stopping the fight twice in this round. Attempts by Francisco Ezpinoza, Margarito's cutman, to stop the bleeding were unsuccessful. In the late rounds Santos began boxing and focused some of his punches in Margarito's wound. In the tenth round Margarito responded to the bell but following the first seconds of the round the ringside doctor declared that the he could not continue further. The result of the fight was decided by the scores of the judges, awarding Santos a victory by technical decision. On June 28, 2003 he defended against Fulgencio Zúñiga
in a card that took place in the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
. Daniel won the contest by unanimous decision with identical scores of 118-110.
Santos was under contract with Warrior's Boxing Promotions for one year, his contract ended when he abandoned the promotion. On April 26, 2005, Don King Productions announced that the company had acquired the exclusive rights to promote Santos' fights. At the moment of the announcement Don King stated that: “Daniel is another proud Puerto Rican world champion and I’m excited to have him with me, Junior middleweight is a solid division and there are many fights we can make for this great champion. Viva Puerto Rico!.” Santos said that this event held significance in his life because:“I want to fight all the best fighters and by being with the best promoter, I know I will get those fights and make good money. I look forward to a long and happy relationship with Don King.” When interviewed about Santos' signing, Félix Trinidad Sr. said that he was impressed by Santos' performance against Antonio Margarito and said that a fight between him and Félix Trinidad
seemed plausible at the moment. On December 3, 2005 Santos was scheduled to defend the light middleweight championship against Sergiy Dzindziruk
. In the eight round of the competition Dzinziruk scored a knockdown. The three judges gave the fight a score of 115-112 in favor of Dzinziruk thus making him the new WBO champion.
presented in the Madison Square Garden
, against José Antonio Rivera
. The contest ended in the eight round when Rivera's corner surrendered by "throwing in the towel". At the moment of the fight's conclusion Rivera was receiving several combinations of punches to the face and displayed several injuries and cuts in his face as well as having his nose swollen. Prior to the decision Santos scored a knockdown which lasted until the count of eight. Following the fight Daniel noted that "it was a hard fight." and that Rivera was a "hardy boxer with strong punches", stating that his physical condition was responsible for his resistance throughout the contest.
On July 11, 2008, Santos competed in his first title fight since returning to action, facing Joachim Alcine
for the WBA's light middleweight championship. The first round was used by both fighters to study their adversary's technique. Alcine began the second round aggressively, displaying accuracy in some of his punches. Santos focused on counter-attacking Alcine's offense during the following two rounds. He continued using this pattern, establishing notable control of the fight's tempo in the fifth episode. In the sixth Santos connected a jab and followed it with a left hook, this combination injured Alcine who was unable to respond to the referee's count, losing the contest by knockout. Subsequently, Santos was scheduled to defend the championship against Nobihiro Ishida on January 3, 2009. However, the fight was cancelled after it was suddenly suspended less than a month before the date. Don King proposed a unificatory contest against Sergio Gabriel Martínez
, who held the World Boxing Council
's interim championship. Santos refused the offer, citing that he had less than a month to train for it after a long period of inactivity, but expressed interest in organizing it in another date. Consequently, the pugilist was inactive for several months. King made an offer to Ricardo Mayorga
, pursuing a fight between both pugilists in May, but the negotiations failed to advance. On August 17, 2009, Top Rank won a bid to organize a fight between Santos and the WBA’s first contender, Yuri Foreman
. The promotion scheduled the contest to take place as part of the undercard of "Firepower", a card featuring a fight between Miguel Cotto
and Manny Pacquiao
in the main event. On that date, Santos lost the championship by unanimous decision to Foreman, with scores of 116-110 and 117-109 twice.
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. As an amateur Santos represented Puerto Rico in international events, including the 1990 and 1992 Junior World Championships, Pan American Boxing Tournament, Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
, 1995 Pan American Games
1995 Pan American Games
The 12th Pan American Games were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from March 12 to March 26, 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games first return to the country that hosted the first Games, in 1951.-Overview:...
and the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
, where he won a bronze medal
Olympic medalists in boxing
This is the complete list of Olympic medalists in boxing from 1904 to 2008.-Light flyweight:*1968 - : up to 48 kg.-Flyweight:*1904: up to 105 lb *1920-1936: up to 112 lb *1948-1964: up to 51 kg...
in the Welterweight Division. Santos debuted as a professional in 1996. Santos won the World Boxing Organization Welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
championship on June 5, 2000. On March 16, 2002 he vacated the welterweight division's championship in order to compete against Yori Boy Campas
Yori Boy Campas
Luis Ramón Campas is a Mexican boxer who was the IBF light middleweight champion. He is better known as Yory Boy Campas.-Background:...
for the vacant World Boxing Organization Light middleweight
Light middleweight
Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....
championship. Santos defended this championship on four occasions, against Mehrdud Takaloo (in a fight where he won the World Boxing Union
World Boxing Union
The World Boxing Union is a boxing sanctioning body.Until recently it was fully recognised by the British Boxing Board of Control as a legitimate sanctioning body.WBU titles were particularly well recognised in Europe and Africa....
Light middleweight championship), Fulgencio Zúñiga
Fulgencio Zúñiga
Fulgencio Zúñiga is a professional boxer of 178 cm height, current IBO Super middleweight champion, having beaten previously undefeated knockout artist Victor Oganov for the vacant title on September 1, 2007...
, Michael Lerma and Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former WBA, WBO, & IBF welterweight champion...
before losing it to Sergiy Dzindziruk
Sergiy Dzindziruk
Sergiy "Razor" Dzinziruk is a Ukrainian professional boxer in the junior middleweight division. He is the current WBO Super Welterweight Champion.- Amateur :...
by unanimous decision in a fight that took place on December 3, 2005. On July 11, 2008, Santos won his third professional championship, knocking out Joachim Alcine
Joachim Alcine
Joachim Alcine is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, where he now resides.-Pro career:...
in six rounds to win the World Boxing Association
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
's light middleweight title.
Amateur career and early life
Santos was raised in a family where boxing was a common profession, with his father Paquito Santos being a trainer and his brother Edgardo Santos being a former professional boxer. Early in his life Daniel Santos was enrolled in a school specialized in sports, located in a facility designed for the training of Olympic athletes in Puerto Rico. He eventually graduated from this institution and continued a career in boxing. Santos began to compete in the international amateur circuit in 1990. On this year he won the bronze medal in the World Junior Championships that were organized in Lima, Peru. Two years later he competed in the World Junior Championships that were celebrated in Montreal, Canada, where he won the bronze medal, for the second straight time in a competition with worldwide scope. On 1993 he debuted in the adult division when he competed in the Panamerican Boxing championship. This event took place in Salinas, Puerto RicoSalinas, Puerto Rico
Salinas is a small municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island, south of Aibonito and Cayey; southeast of Coamo, east of Santa Isabel; and west of Guayama...
. Santos won the gold medal on this tournament. In 1994 Santos represented Puerto Rico in the Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
that took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Here, Santos finished third in his division and won the bronze medal. His next international participation was in the 1995 Pan American games
Boxing at the 1995 Pan American Games
The Men's Boxing Tournament at the 1995 Pan American Games was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina from March 11 to March 27. It served as a qualification tournament for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia...
celebrated in Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, where he won the silver medal. The result of the championship fight was controversial, when David Reid
David Reid (boxer)
David Terrell Reid is a former boxer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Amateur career:Reid had a stellar amateur boxing career, culminating with a come-from-behind, one-punch knock out win to secure a gold medal at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia...
won the fight by decision after Santos scored a knockdown during the course of the contest. Santos represented Puerto Rico once again at the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
organized in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Here he competed in three fights, he defeated two adversaries by unanimous decision, these were: Kabil Lahsen of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
with score of 16-4 and Nariman Atayev
Nariman Atayev
Nariman Atayev is a retired male boxer from Uzbekistan. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was stopped in the quarterfinals of the men's welterweight division by Puerto Rico's eventual bronze medalist Daniel Santos.-References:*...
of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
with a score of 28-15. In his first fight he defeated Ernest Atangana Mboa of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
by RSC (referee stopping contest) at the 2:54 mark of the first round. His last fight was against Oleg Saitov
Oleg Saitov
Oleg Elekpayevich Saitov is a Russian boxer. He studied journalism in Ryazan, a city of approximately one million people south of Moscow.He won the Olympic gold medal at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics in the welterweight division, and bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. He was the winner of the...
of Russia where he lost by points with score of 11-13. He finished the competition in the third global place and won the bronze medal, with this medal Santos became the sixth Puerto Rican boxer to win a Olympic medal. Daniel finished his amateur career compiling a record of 117 fights won and three defeats.
Professional career
Santos debuted as a professional on September 28, 1996 against Andre Hawthorne in Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, in a fight where he won by technical knockout in the first round. Following this fight Santos compiled a record of twenty-one victories, one defeat and one draw before competing for a world championship. During this period Santos boxed in the welterweight division, his adversaries in this stage of his career included: Bernard Gray, Miguel Gonzalez, Fidel Avendao, Juan Caslos Rodriguez, William Ruiz and Humberto Rodriguez. The first draw in Santos' career occurred in a fight with Jose Luis Verdugo, that was part of a card that took place in El Cajon, California
El Cajon, California
-History:El Cajon is located on the Rancho El Cajon Mexican land grant made in 1845 to María Antonia Estudillo, wife of Miguel Pedrorena. In 1876 Amaziah Lord Knox , a New Englander who had recently moved to California, established a hotel there to serve the growing number of people traveling...
. On May 7, 1999 Santos competed against Kofi Jantuah in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Jantuah won this contest by technical knockout in the fifth round, marking Santos' first defeat in the professional circuit.
Santos fought Ahmed Kotiev for the World Boxing Organization's welterweight championship on November 27, 1999. Kotiev retained the championship by split decision. The scores of the judges were 115-113 and 115-113 in favor of Kotiev and 117-111 in favor of Santos. The fight was subsequently described as a "competitive and highly entertaining fight" and the result was reviewed as a "disputed" close split decision. On May 6, 2000 these two boxers competed in a rematch of their previous fight. In the fifth round Santos won the fight by knockout, in the process winning his first professional championship, the World Boxing Organization's championship.
On July 21, 2000, Santos defended the welterweight championship against Giovanni Parisi
Giovanni Parisi
Giovanni Parisi was an Italian boxer, who won the gold medal in the Men's Featherweight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.- Biography:...
in Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, Italy. Santos won the fight by knockout in the fourth round. Following the fight Parisi stated that the welterweight championship was always his interest as he wanted to become the first Italian to win world championships in three different divisions. In this interview he claimed that his training prior to the fight was insufficient. Giovanni said: "We battled in Reggio Calabria, a coin toss from Sicily, and he KOed me during the 4th round. I have no excuses. I didn’t train properly."
His second defense was against Neil Sinclair in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. In the first round Sinclair's offensive was effective and he scored a knockdown on the defending champion. On the second round Santos responded to Sinclair's strategy and won the fight by knockout. Prior to the fight Sinclair noted that a fight between Santos and him was supposed to happen eight years before, "We were both in the 1992 World junior championships in Montreal. We were both at the same weight and were at other side of the draw from each other and ended up with bronze medals. So I have watched him fight in person and shook hands on the podium. If we had both won our semi-finals we would have faced each other." Sinclair also stated that he expected to win based on his training, he said that all of his sparring partners were southpaws since Santos is one, this preparation also included contracting a new trainer.
On July 21, 2001, Santos defended against Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former WBA, WBO, & IBF welterweight champion...
in a card that took place in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
. This marked the first time that Santos fought a world title fight in Puerto Rico. At the moment of the fight Margarito was the mandatory challenger appointed by the World Boxing Organization, and it was televised on Showtime Too. The fight ended in at the 2:11 mark on the first round when the fight was stopped due to a large injury over Margarito's right eye, the cut caused by an accidental head butt. The fight was declared a no-contest and Santos retained the welterweight championship by default. Following the conclusion of the contest both competitors were visibly angered at the sudden conclusion.
Light middleweight division
Santos competed for the vacant World Boxing Organization junior middleweight championship against Yori Boy CampasYori Boy Campas
Luis Ramón Campas is a Mexican boxer who was the IBF light middleweight champion. He is better known as Yory Boy Campas.-Background:...
in a fight that took place at Bally's Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Santos won the fight when referee Joe Cortez intervened in the eleventh round. During the course of the fight numerous combinations hurt Campas and cut his face, in the eleventh round following one of Santos' punches Campas informed Cortez that his vision was not functioning properly. At the moment of the fight's conclusion the scores of the judges were 99-91, 97-93 and 99-90 in favor of Santos. On August 17, 2002, Santos defended this championship for a first time against Mehrdud Takaloo, in a fight that also involved the World Boxing Union Light middleweight championship. The event took place in the Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The Castle is a Grade I Listed Building.-The Roman fort:...
located in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Takaloo began the fight by using his right hand often and on the fourth round he scored a knockdown. As the fight progressed Takaloo began to show signs of exhaustion and Santos managed to have a strong performance in the second half of the fight. Takaloo received cuts around both of his eyes which made the referee consider stopping the fight twice in the tenth round. When the fight ended Santos won the contest by unanimous decision and the judges' scores were 116-111, 116-112, 117-110.
On January 14, 2004, Warrior's Boxing Promotions announced that they had signed Santos to exclusively acquire the rights to promote the fights where he performed. At the moment of the announcement Santos said that he expected to have a productive business relationship with the promotion, and highlighted the company's organization, he said: “I am very impressed with the Warriors organization and believe that they will provide me with the platform to show the world that I am truly one of the best champions competing today.” The executive director of the promotion, Jessie Robinson said that the company had been scouting Daniel for years, his words were: “We have had our eye on Santos for the past two years and strongly feel that he is a serious player in the junior middleweight division. We will be announcing our long term plans for Mr. Santos shortly.”
On September 11, 2004 Santos fought in a rematch against Antonio Margarito as part of the undercard of the Cotto-Pinto undercard. Early in the fight Santos' strategy consisted of connecting with short punches with his left arm, including a strong impact to Margarito's face in the first round. In the fifth round Margarito connected several strong punches to his head and body. Throughout the course of the fight both boxers fought at close quarters which led to their heads hitting against each other several times. Margarito's face began bleeding in the sixth round which led to the referee stopping the fight twice in this round. Attempts by Francisco Ezpinoza, Margarito's cutman, to stop the bleeding were unsuccessful. In the late rounds Santos began boxing and focused some of his punches in Margarito's wound. In the tenth round Margarito responded to the bell but following the first seconds of the round the ringside doctor declared that the he could not continue further. The result of the fight was decided by the scores of the judges, awarding Santos a victory by technical decision. On June 28, 2003 he defended against Fulgencio Zúñiga
Fulgencio Zúñiga
Fulgencio Zúñiga is a professional boxer of 178 cm height, current IBO Super middleweight champion, having beaten previously undefeated knockout artist Victor Oganov for the vacant title on September 1, 2007...
in a card that took place in the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
. Daniel won the contest by unanimous decision with identical scores of 118-110.
Santos was under contract with Warrior's Boxing Promotions for one year, his contract ended when he abandoned the promotion. On April 26, 2005, Don King Productions announced that the company had acquired the exclusive rights to promote Santos' fights. At the moment of the announcement Don King stated that: “Daniel is another proud Puerto Rican world champion and I’m excited to have him with me, Junior middleweight is a solid division and there are many fights we can make for this great champion. Viva Puerto Rico!.” Santos said that this event held significance in his life because:“I want to fight all the best fighters and by being with the best promoter, I know I will get those fights and make good money. I look forward to a long and happy relationship with Don King.” When interviewed about Santos' signing, Félix Trinidad Sr. said that he was impressed by Santos' performance against Antonio Margarito and said that a fight between him and Félix Trinidad
Félix Trinidad
Félix 'Tito' Trinidad, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional boxer, considered one of the best in Puerto Rico's history. After winning five National Amateur Championships in Puerto Rico, he debuted as a professional when he was 17. He won his first world championship when he defeated Maurice Blocker...
seemed plausible at the moment. On December 3, 2005 Santos was scheduled to defend the light middleweight championship against Sergiy Dzindziruk
Sergiy Dzindziruk
Sergiy "Razor" Dzinziruk is a Ukrainian professional boxer in the junior middleweight division. He is the current WBO Super Welterweight Champion.- Amateur :...
. In the eight round of the competition Dzinziruk scored a knockdown. The three judges gave the fight a score of 115-112 in favor of Dzinziruk thus making him the new WBO champion.
Return to activity
On October 6, 2007 Santos returned to action following a period of fifteen months of inactivity. This event took place in a fight cardFight card
Fight card, more commonly known simply as the Card, is a term used to refer to all of the boxing, or another hand-to-hand contact sport such as MMA or kickboxing, matches that occur in the evening of a boxing event. The fight card typically consists of the main event and the undercard....
presented in the Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, against José Antonio Rivera
José Antonio Rivera
José Antonio Rivera is an American professional boxer in the super welterweight division.His record is 39-6-1 . He is a former WBA welterweight and WBA world super welterweight champion. He is of Puerto Rican descent....
. The contest ended in the eight round when Rivera's corner surrendered by "throwing in the towel". At the moment of the fight's conclusion Rivera was receiving several combinations of punches to the face and displayed several injuries and cuts in his face as well as having his nose swollen. Prior to the decision Santos scored a knockdown which lasted until the count of eight. Following the fight Daniel noted that "it was a hard fight." and that Rivera was a "hardy boxer with strong punches", stating that his physical condition was responsible for his resistance throughout the contest.
On July 11, 2008, Santos competed in his first title fight since returning to action, facing Joachim Alcine
Joachim Alcine
Joachim Alcine is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, where he now resides.-Pro career:...
for the WBA's light middleweight championship. The first round was used by both fighters to study their adversary's technique. Alcine began the second round aggressively, displaying accuracy in some of his punches. Santos focused on counter-attacking Alcine's offense during the following two rounds. He continued using this pattern, establishing notable control of the fight's tempo in the fifth episode. In the sixth Santos connected a jab and followed it with a left hook, this combination injured Alcine who was unable to respond to the referee's count, losing the contest by knockout. Subsequently, Santos was scheduled to defend the championship against Nobihiro Ishida on January 3, 2009. However, the fight was cancelled after it was suddenly suspended less than a month before the date. Don King proposed a unificatory contest against Sergio Gabriel Martínez
Sergio Gabriel Martínez
Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer and the current The Ring middleweight champion....
, who held the World Boxing Council
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
's interim championship. Santos refused the offer, citing that he had less than a month to train for it after a long period of inactivity, but expressed interest in organizing it in another date. Consequently, the pugilist was inactive for several months. King made an offer to Ricardo Mayorga
Ricardo Mayorga
Ricardo Mayorga , is a Nicaraguan professional boxer. He is the former WBA/WBC Welterweight champion and the former WBC light middleweight champion. He holds a record of 29-8 with 23 knockouts and 1 draw 1 no contest. He was featured for the first time on the cover of Ring Magazine on the December...
, pursuing a fight between both pugilists in May, but the negotiations failed to advance. On August 17, 2009, Top Rank won a bid to organize a fight between Santos and the WBA’s first contender, Yuri Foreman
Yuri Foreman
Yuri Foreman is a Belarusian-born Israeli-American professional boxer. He is a former World Boxing Association super welterweight champion...
. The promotion scheduled the contest to take place as part of the undercard of "Firepower", a card featuring a fight between Miguel Cotto
Miguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and the reigning WBA light middleweight champion. He is the younger brother of contender Jose Miguel Cotto and cousin of Abner Cotto...
and Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...
in the main event. On that date, Santos lost the championship by unanimous decision to Foreman, with scores of 116-110 and 117-109 twice.
See also
- List of current world boxing champions
- List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
- List of Puerto Ricans