Rene Santiago would want nothing more than to come out victorious in his hometown. 

Sanitago will face Azael Villar in a clash of fringe junior flyweight contenders on October 30, All Star Boxing announced Tuesday. The 10-round bout will take place at the Coliseo Marcelo Trujillo in Sanitago’s hometown of Humacao, Puerto Rico and will stream live on ESPN+ in the United States and on ESPN Knockout throughout Latin America (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

The Night of Champions card will take place as part of the 37th annual World Boxing Organization (WBO) Convention. 

The venue holds special meaning for promoter Felix ‘Tuto’ Zabala, Jr., who is the lead promoter of the card, in association with Miguel Cotto Promotions and H2 Promotions. 

“My father did his first ever event here in 1964 at the Estadio (Hiram) Bithorn between Florentino Fernandez and (Juan Carlos) ‘Rocky’ Rivero,” said Zabala. “Now we are back in our 60th anniversary and what better way with our WBO family and worldwide on the ESPN+ and ESPN Knockout platforms.”

Francisco ‘Paco’ Varcarcel, President of the WBO, agrees.

“We are excited for this show as part of our convention in Puerto Rico,” said Varcarcel. “The matches are exciting between contenders in toss’em fights. “Together, with the commission, we will appoint officials in attendance from all over the world to make this a historic night.”

Santiago (12-4, 9 KOs) last fought on March 2, losing a close unanimous decision to then-WBO world junior flyweight titleholder Jonathan Gonzalez. In his previous fight on October 27, Santiago won the interim WBO title by knocking out Kevin Vivas.

Prior to the loss to Gonzalez, Santiago had won three fights in a row since a decision loss to Yudel Reyes in April 2022. Santiago is grateful for the opportunity to fight in his hometown.

“This is a dream come true fighting in my hometown for the first time in my career,” said Santiago. “Thank you to the mayor of Humacao, Julio Giegel, for making this possible along with my promoter, All Star Boxing, Inc. and the WBO.”

Villar (21-3-4, 15 KOs), who resides in Panama City, Panama, defeated Viva by unanimous decision in his last fight on July 12. In his previous fight on March 8, Villar lost by decision to Jairo Noriega, who will be fighting Shokichi Iwata for the vacant WBO world junior flyweight title. 

The 30-year-old has one defeat in his last four bouts.

In the co-feature, flyweight Juan Carlos Camacho (17-1 1 No Contest, 8 KOs) of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico will square off against former world title challenger Jayson Mama (20-1, 10 KOs) of General Santos City in the Philippines in a 10-round bout. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow @FSalazarBoxing