Daniel Santos

Daniel Santos Peña (born October 10, 1975) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2009. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Association (WBO) welterweight title from 2000 to 2001, the WBO light middleweight title from 2002 to 2005, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight title from 2008 to 2009. 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 at welterweight.

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. Two years later he competed in the World Junior Championships that were celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he won the bronze medal, for the second straight time in a competition with worldwide scope. This event took place in Salinas, Puerto Rico. Santos won the gold medal on this tournament. Here, Santos finished third in his division and won the bronze 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. Daniel finished his amateur career compiling a record of 117 fights won and three defeats.

Professional career Welterweight Santos debuted as a professional on September 28, 1996, against Andre Hawthorne in Fort Worth, Texas, 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, former world title challenger Fidel Avendano, 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.

WBO welterweight title 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. On the second round Santos responded to Sinclair's strategy and won the fight by knockout. 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. 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. Santos won the fight when referee Joe Cortez intervened in the eleventh round. 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. 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." 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. 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." In the eight round of the competition Dzinziruk scored a knockdown. This event took place in a fight card 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".

WBA light-middleweight title 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. Alcine began the second round aggressively, displaying accuracy in some of his punches. 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 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.

Legal troubles On September 27, 2018, Santos was arrested by police, accused of resisting arrest and threatening two policemen who went to his house to arrest him on charges of threatening his ex-wife, an event which had allegedly taken place on September 24 of that year. While taken into custody, Santos was interviewed by a reporter of the popular television gossip show, Lo Se Todo. He took that opportunity to plead with the Puerto Rican public to help him get help for unspecified problems.

Professional boxing record