Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - The Philippines by Eric Armit Oct 30th 2007

In a fascinating new feature, Eric Armit casts his eye worldwide to look for the heroes of yesterday, today and (perhaps) tomorrow. Yesterday  Gabriel Elorde, Hero of the Philippines  Boxing got its start in the Philippines when they lost a war. The United Sates threw the Spanish out of the Philippines but then refused to leave. The Filipinos resented this and fought for their independence. They lost and the US stayed. They wanted to encourage the troops stationed there to adopt a healthier life style so in 1902 they set up a YMCA there and started teaching boxing. Eventually the soldiers stationed there began to teach boxing to the locals and from there it was onwards and upwards. The first Filipino world champion was Francisco Guilledo, who boxed as “Pancho Villa” and won the world flyweight title with a seventh round kayo of Welsh hero Jimmy Wilde in New York in 1923. Pancho made only one defence of his title before tragically dying of blood poisoning caused by an infected tooth following fight with Jimmy McLarin 1925. However the first big hero of Filipino boxing was Gabriel “Flash” Elorde. Elorde was born in March 1935 and, although a pre-teen at the time, saw some action with the Filipino resistance fighting the Japanese. A southpaw, he turned pro in June 1951 at the age of 16 and was fighting 10 rounders before the end of the year. He won the Orient bantamweight title at 17. He made the world sit up when he beat the world featherweight champion Sandy Saddler on points in a non-title fight in Manila 1955 as a 20-year-old, but was stopped the following year in thirteen rounds in a title challenge. Flash moved up and won both the Filipino and Orient titles at lightweight and then in 1960 stopped Harold Gomes in seven rounds in Manila to win the NBA version of the world super-lightweight title which eventually became the WBA title. He made ten defences before losing title in 1967, the longest reign in the history of the division, and in between these defences continued to defend his Orient lightweight title, switching between divisions with ease. He twice challenged for world lightweight title losing to Carlos Ortiz on fourteenth round stoppages on both occasions. In a career of over 100 fights he beat Ike Chestnut, Teddy Davis, Sonny Leon, Vicente Rivas, Giordano Campari, Solomon Boysaw, Johnny Bizzarro, Love Allotey, Rene Barrientos, Frankie Narvaez, Ismael Laguna, Percy Hayles, Vicente Derado. He also started a boxing dynasty which continues today through his sons and grandsons and he was the hero of Filipino boxing fans until Manny Pacquiao came along. (Ring Record 123 fights , 88 wins, 33 losses, 2 draws) Today Manny Pacquiao, Hero of the Philippines Born 17/12/78. Also a southpaw and like Elorde he turned pro just after his 16th birthday fighting as a light-flyweight. He lost an early fight in 1996 being halted in three rounds by Rustico Torrecampo , but as a flyweight won the Orient and Pacific titles in 1997. Just before his 20th birthday he became WBC champion with an eighth round kayo of Chatchai Sasikul in Thailand. He struggled at the weight and failed to make the poundage for his second defence in September 1999 and lost his title on the scales. The fight went ahead and Manny was kayoed by Medgoen. Three months later he returned as super-bantam and won WBC International title. He made a big impression in his first appearance in the USA when he overpowered the South African Lehlo Ledwaba (who was 33-1-1 going in and five defences behind him) to win IBF super-bantamweight title. In November 2003 he cemented his reputation with and eleventh round stoppage of Marco Antonio Barrera in a non-title fight. It was considered a huge upset as Barrera's standing at the time was sky high as he had outclassed Naseem Hamed and gained a revenge win over Erik Morales.. In May 2004 he fought a dramatic draw with Juan Manuel Marquez for the IBF and WBA titles. Manny suffered a temporary set back when he lost to Erik Morales in WBC title eliminator up at super-featherweight, but two inside the distance wins over Morales and his latest victory over Barrera have put him right there at the top even though he holds no version of the world title. He is now the undoubted all-time hero of Filipino boxing and is inspiring a whole new crop of youngsters. (Ring record 50 fights, 45wins, 3 losses 2 draws) Tomorrow AJ Banal - Hero of the Philippines? In the past Stockton, with its large Filipino population, was the main site to see the new imports from the Islands. However, Pacquiao has changed that and Las Vegas and other main fight centres are anxious to feature their talent. Recently Florante Condes, Donnie Nietes and Nonito Donaire have all upset the odds and won versions of world titles and other such as Diosdado Gabi, Z Gorres and Rey Bautista have all had shots and fallen short, but cannot be discounted. There are no really outstanding super-featherweights to follow Elorde and Pacquiao but one who may grow into the division is A(lex) J(ohn) Banal an 18-year-old, currently a super-flyweight, is managed by Tony Alduguer. Like Pacquiao and Elorde he is a southpaw and turned pro at the age of 16. He is already rated in the top ten by the WBA,I BF and WBO and has appeared on a show in Las Vegas. His record stands at 15 wins and a technical draw with 13 of those wins coming inside the distance. Aldeguer is a philanthropic man who invests in fighters because he loves the sport so he has the right team behind him, but at 18 is still very much a work in progress that could build into something big another Elorde or Pacquiao or just become another failed prospect. (Ring record 16 fights, 15 wins, 0 losses, 1 draw)

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