Miguel Santana

Miguel Santana (born February 9, 1965) is a former boxer from Puerto Rico. Santana was born in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico.

Miguel Santana had an award winning amateur boxing career, training alongside a young Jose Antonio Rivera, who is a two division world champion himself. Santana and Rivera became lifelong friends during their teenage years.

Santana decided to become a professional in 1982, and he debuted by outpointing Angel Lopez over six rounds on March 21. Santana scored his first knockout on his next bout, on July 21, when he defeated Ramon Canales in the fourth round at San Juan. After one more win, Santana faced Joe Rivera, on March 21, 1983 in Bayamon. Santana knocked Rivera out in the fourth round. Half a decade later, Rivera would unsuccessfully challenge for world titles, drawing (tying) and losing to Brian Mitchell in fifteen and twelve rounds respectively, and being knocked out in seven by Juan Martin Coggi.

Santana won his next five bouts, and, on September 1, 1984, he fought for his first title. Santana beat Javier Fragoso, a veteran who had fought Julio César Chávez, by a knockout in the sixth round in Carolina to win the Puerto Rican national title. Even as he was undefeated before his fight with Fragoso, Santana was largely unknown and became a celebrity in Puerto Rico only after winning the national belt.

Santana defended his national title successfully three times and won one more bout before facing Orlando Romero in Miami Beach on December 3, 1985. He beat the Peruvian boxer by a fourth round knockout.

A new Puerto Rican television channel, Tele Once, began broadcasting boxing fights weekly immediately after it was launched. Although Tele Once largely dedicated their weekly boxing show to local fights, Santana became known by television viewers in his island, with Ivonne Class and Felo Ramirez. Tele Once's boxing commentators, speaking about him regularly. Santana won three fights in 1986 before meeting Terrence Alli on September 27 of that year, as part of the program where Lloyd Honeyghan upset Donald Curry with a seventh round knockout in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Their bout was televised to Puerto Rico by one of Tele Once's two major competitors, WAPA-TV. Santana entered the ring that night undefeated in 19 bouts, with 11 knockout wins. In a bout for the vacant, regional USBA Lightweight title, Santana lost a 12 round unanimous decision to the Guyanan, despite hurting Alli in the last round. On December 19, he returned with a sixth round knockout win over Felix Gonzalez, once again in Atlantic City.

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