Perennial welterweight contender Francisco Santana (26-6-1, 12 KOs), of Santa Barbara, CA has stepped up to face former world title challenger Felix Diaz (19-2, 9 KOs), in the first round of ‘The Jose Sulaiman World Invitational Tournament’ set for April 27 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY. Santana replaces the previously announced first round opponent for Diaz, Derrieck Cuevas, who bowed out due to the death of his grandmother.

“I know I’m the dark horse in the race so I guess it makes sense the tournament is taking place in the home of the Kentucky Derby!”, said Santana.

“In all seriousness though, I’ve come up the hard way. I’ve caught a lot of bad breaks in the sport. After my last fight when I was robbed on the cards again, I thought maybe it was time to hang it up, but I listened to my team and my family that an opportunity would come along as long I stayed focused and kept training. Now it has with this tournament and I intend to make the most of it. My dream has always been to be the WBC Welterweight Champion of the world and this is the next step towards that goal.”

As for landing the top seed Felix Diaz on short notice, Santana is not phased at all.

“It doesn’t matter who it is. There are no easy fights or fighters in this tournament. In terms of the quality of match ups, hardcore boxing fans know this is the top to bottom card of the year so far. The best fighting the best, that’s what The Real Deal Boxing is all about it and that’s what I’m about. I know I’m the tournament underdog but that only fuels my fire. I am a man on mission. I am going to make a statement on April 27th. Train. Fight. Win.”

Santana has faced numerous world class fighters including Sadam Ali, Jermell Charlo, Julian Williams, Jose Benavidez, Eddie Gomez, Freddy Hernandez and Karim Mayfield. He also received the most ‘alternate’ fan votes in the balloting prior to the announcement of the tournament draw.