Bob Santos | |
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| Born | Robert Allen Santos |
| Known for | Boxing trainer, manager, cutman |
| Relatives | Luis Molina (cousin) |
| Awards | 2022 Trainer of the Year |
Robert "Bob" Santos is an American boxing trainer, [1] manager, [2] and cutman. He was named Trainer of the Year [3] [4] by both The Ring [5] and Sports Illustrated in 2022, [6] [7] [8] and is a well-known member of the boxing community. [9] [10]
Santos was originally from San Jose, California, [3] [10] where he graduated from San José High School at 17. His connection to boxing came through his family, especially through his maternal cousin, Luis Molina, who competed as a lightweight in the 1956 Summer Olympics. [11]
Santos started working in construction after graduating high school, and in his early 20s became involved in coaching with featherweight titlist Héctor Lizárraga and trainers Joe Amato and Eddie Devine. [11] Other trainers who influenced him include Joe Goossen, Emanual Steward, Ronnie Shields, Ruben Guerrero, Joe Chávez, and Chuck Bodak. [8]
In 2022, Santos trained Dominican junior lightweight Hector Luis Garcia, who secured upset victories over Chris Colbert [12] in February and Roger Gutierrez in August. He also guided Dominican heavy underdog Alberto Puello [13] to the WBA junior welterweight title and Carlos Adames [14] to an interim middleweight belt. [11] Additionally, Santos worked with multi-division titleholder Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero [1] [2] [4] and junior middleweight/middleweight veteran Erislandy Lara. [10]
Santos has worked with notable names, including Joel Casamayor, David Morrell Jr., [15] Mario Barrios, [16] [17] Rances Barthelemy, Tomoki Kameda, Livingstone Bramble, Eros Correa, and Jose Celaya. Other boxers he was involved with include top contender Luis Nunez, [18] Cuban Olympian brothers Lenier and Dainier Pero, [19] WBA minimum world champion Erick Rosa, [20] and Amilcar Vidal. [8]
Santos currently trains former world champion Jeison Rosario. [21] [22] [23]
In 2025, Santos served as the head trainer for Mario Barrios during his bout against Manny Pacquiao, [24] [25] [26] which was broadcast via pay-per-view on Prime Video. The fight concluded with a majority draw, [27] [28] allowing Barrios to retain his WBC world title. [29]
In 2022, Santos was awarded Trainer of the Year by Ring Magazine and Sports Illustrated. [7] He was also nominated for the Boxing Writers Association of America's 2022 Trainer of the Year. [30] [31]
In 2024, Santos was nominated for The Ring magazine’s Trainer of the Year. [32]