The Puerto Rican won there twice last year to pick up the WBO and WBA junior flyweight titles and will return to Tokyo and face former strawweight beltholder Masataka Taniguchi at legendary Korakuen Hall on April 3, it was announced at a press conference Tuesday..

The show will be promoted by Treasure Island Boxing and All Star Boxing. It will be televised on U-Next in Japan, ESPN Knockout in Latin America and Wapa in Puerto Rico.

Santiago (15-4, 9 KOs) picked up the WBO belt by beating Shokichi Iwata (UD 12) and repeated the trick when he edged WBA ruler Kyosuke Takami in a unification by split decision on December 17.

Meanwhile, Taniguchi (21-5, 15 KOs) has worked his way back up after losing his WBO strawweight title to Melvin Jerusalem in January 2023. He is ranked No. 9 by The WBO and No. 7 by the WBA.

"I'm very happy to have Santiago back in Japan, a country I have been working for the past 33 years," Santiago's promoter, Tuto Zabala of All Stars Boxing, told The Ring. "We're delighted to work with Masayuki Ito, a former world champion who won and lost a world title on our show in Kissimmee, Florida. He's a new generation of promoter in Japan.

"Santiago is in great shape, he's been training in Puerto Rico and he will be ready, he's happy and eager to be back in Japan where they have treated us very well. For us this is like fighting at home and looking forward to the match.

"Taniguchi is a strong fighter, it's a good fight. We believe Santiago can beat him, that's why we took the fight. Our purpose this year is to have him defend his titles three to four times, so we can take advantage of the momentum. We will make sure we keep both belts and then look for bigger fights after this one."

Santiago, rated No. 1 by The Ring at junior flyweight, went 9-3 in the first seven years of his career and didn't appear to be going. He went on a three-fight win streak, taking the unbeaten records of Gerardo Zapata (DQ 2) and Kevin Vivas (KO 12).

He faced WBO 108-pound titlist Jonathan Gonzalez, dropping a unanimous decision despite a spirited effort.

Santiago, 33, headed to Japan and kick-started his career with upset wins over Iwata and Takami.