Santiago, The Ring's No. 1 junior flyweight, emerged victorious taking a 12-round unanimous decision at the famed Korakuen Hall, Tokyo.

"I'm grateful and thankful for the victory," Santiago (16-4, 9 KOs) told The Ring.

"It was a tough fight. I had to give it my all. I had to show all my qualities in the ring, and my experience was key to victory."

The defending champion felt he could have done better early on but punctuated his status in the fight by dropping Taniguchi, who came in as The Ring No. 9-rated 108-pound fighter, in round five.

"We started a little cold early on but we made the adjustments," he said. "[The knockdown] was favorable to me, and it helped me push through to victory. I saw replays between rounds. After the fifth round we took over."

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican held off a spirited finale from the challenger.

"Boxing is for warriors, that's why I'm a unified champion because I'm a warrior," he said. "I gave it my all in the 12th round."

The win brought back good memories for Santiago's promoter, Tuto Zabala of All Star Boxing.

"For me, it's history, we did the same thing with Wilfredo Vazquez 33-years ago against Hiroaki Yokota at the same venue the Korakuen Hall," he said.

"He was my only champion who fought at the Korakuen. Same everything, it was like dejavu, we knocked him down in the fifth round and we won by decision. It was really good memories."

Santiago, Zabala, his son, Felix, and trainer Jonathan Lopez celebrated by going for food at a nearby restaurant with a few beers mixed in for good measure, and were joined by former four-weight world champion Kosei Tanaka.

It's still very early but Santiago has several options at junior flyweight.

"For the big stuff, big fights, that's what I want," he said. "I want The Ring belt.

"We're not looking for anyone specific. If Mr. Honda and Teiken decide they want to do a rematch [with WBC champion Shokichi Iwata] we're open to it.

"If we make a defense against another fighter or if we can fight the IBF champion [Thanongsak Simsri] that is fighting April 13. We've got to figure out what's happening. I know it's a short career and I want to get the best out of it and that's why I fought three times in one year."