BAYAMON, Puerto Rico—Three-time world champion and current World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Daniel Santos (32-3-1, 23 KOs) will defend his title against undefeated, WBA No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Yuri Foreman (27-0, 8 KOs) as the featured PPV match on the Pacquiao-Cotto “Firepower” card on Saturday from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas telecast live on HBO PPV at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Blessed with natural skills and abilities that most top-flight boxers can only dream about, Santos has achieved a staggering list of ring accomplishments including an amateur record of 117-3 that culminated with an Olympic bronze medal in the Atlanta games of 1996 and being a three-time world champion as a professional, once at welterweight and twice at the 154-pound limit.
“I want to shine on the big stage,” Santos said. “Saturday night is my chance to fulfill the truly great promise of my boxing career.”
Santos, 34, a Puerto Rican native who just completed his training camp in Bayamon, will be showcased in a blockbuster pay-per-view card. He believes that facing the undefeated Foreman, from Belarus, provides him a tremendous opportunity to send a message to all the champions at and around the 154-pound weight limit that his combination of skill and style are what boxing fans want to see in the ring.
“With a great performance on Saturday, I will show that I belong in the biggest and best matches that can be made,” Santos said. “I truly feel that my time has come to move into the spotlight.”
His promoter, Don King, would like nothing more than to see Santos fulfill his dreams.
“Daniel will be the first to tell you that God has blessed him with the ability to box,” King said. “Danny just needs to put it all together right here, right now. Opportunities await him if he can answer the call of greatness, and he has an appointment on Saturday in Las Vegas.”
Santos first became world champion in 2000 by defeating then-World Boxing Organization welterweight titlist Akmed Kotiev. He successfully defended that crown three times before moving to the 154-pound limit in 2002 where he defeated the legendary former world champion Luis “Yori Boy” Campas to capture the vacant WBO super welterweight championship.
Santos successfully defended that title four times, including a technical decision over Antonio Margarito in 2004, before surrendering the belt in 2005 in a very close decision loss to Sergiy Dzinziruk.
Santos became a three-time world champion by knocking out Joachim Alcine in Montreal, Canada, on July 11 to take his WBA super welterweight crown.
