René Manuel Santiago García (born April 10, 1992) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is a light-flyweight champion having held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title since March 2025 and previously the World Boxing Association (WBA) title from 2025 to 2026.
Professional career Santiago turned professional in 2014 and compiled a record 12–3 before defeating Nicaraguan Kevin Vivas, to win the vacant WBO interim light-flyweight title.
Santiago challenged Jonathan Gonzalez for WBO light-flyweight title in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 2 March 2024. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Santiago claimed the WBO light-flyweight title with a unanimous decision win over defending champion Shokichi Iwata at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan, on 13 March 2025.
Santiago's first defense was in an unification bout with the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) champion, Kyosuke Takami of Japan. Despite entering the fight as a 9–1 underdog, Santiago defeated Takami by split decision. The cards were 116–112, 113–115 and 111–117.
On April 3, 2026, Santiago traveled to Tokyo for his second defense, defeating former world champion Masataka Taniguchi by unanimous decision after scoring a knockdown in the fifth round as part of the main event of a card held at the historic Korakuen Hall.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes20Win16–4Masataka TaniguchiUD123 Apr 202619Win15–4Kyosuke TakamiSD1217 Dec 202518Win14–4Shokichi IwataUD1213 Mar 202517Win13–4Ricardo AstuvilcaUD1230 Oct 202416Loss12–4Jonathan GonzálezUD122 Mar 202415Win12–3Kevin VivasKO12 (12), 27 Oct 202314Win11–3Carlos OrtegaTKO9 (10), 14 Apr 202313Win10–3Gerardo Zapata2 (10), 16 Dec 202212Loss9–3Yudel ReyesUD108 Apr 202211Win9–2Jose CalderonTKO2 (10), 7 Nov 202110Win8–2Israel VazquezUD1031 Jan 20209Win7–2Juan Gabriel Guzman PichardoTKO1 (10), 23 Nov 20198Loss6–2Geovani Garcia BarraganUD67 Dec 20187Win6–1Jesus Miguel Martinez CastilloTKO2 (6), 25 Aug 20186Win5–1Starlin Reyes Sierra1 (4), 1 Jul 20185Loss4–1Waldemar PaganUD630 Jan 20164Win4–0Alberto Medina MaldonadoTKO2 (4), 22 Aug 20153Win3–0Alexis DiazTKO3 (4), 31 May 20152Win2–0Luis Diaz2 (4), 25 Apr 20151Win1–0Gustavo Ortiz422 Nov 2014
See also List of male boxers List of Puerto Ricans Boxing in Puerto Rico List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions List of world light-flyweight boxing champions
References
External links
René Santiago - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live