In the first segment of "Before Manny Pacquaio" we looked at the careers of Pancho Villa and Luisito Espinosa. We will once again look back at some of the great Filipino fighters that paved the way for Manny Pacquiao.
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde could easily be considered the most popular Filipino fighter of all time until Manny Pacquiao came around. Elorde, a southpaw, began his career in 1951 with a victory over Kid Gonzaga. In just his 18th professional bout Elorde fought and defeated Tanny Campo for the Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) Bantamweight title.
Two fights later he captured the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation title (OPBF) with a split decision victory over Hiroshi Horiguchi. Between 1953 and 1954 Elorde failed to capture the Japanese Featherweight title and twice fought for the OPBF Featherweight belt losing all three fights by decision. He did, however, claim the GAB Super Featherweight title defeating Tommy Romulo. On July 20th, 1955 Flash held a record of 28-8-2 as he stepped in the ring against his toughest opponent to date, Sandy Saddler, (114-14-2) who had fought only 12 days prior to his bout with Elorde, winning by 6th round TKO. With only 12 days between fights Saddler dropped a ten round decision to Flash thus elevating the young Filipino into the featherweight spotlight. The two men would meet again in early 1956 for the world featherweight title. Unlike their previous meeting Saddler would come out on top, with a 13th round TKO victory, after the fight was stopped due to a bad cut suffered by Elorde.
Through 1956-1959 Flash would again capture the GAB Super Featherweight title along with the OPBF and GAB Lightweight titles. Flash would capture his first world title in 1960 when he knocked out Harold Gomes in the 7th round. In 1963 Elorde became the WBC and WBA Super Featherweight champion by winning a decision over Johnny Bizzarro. Flash would go on to defend his Super Featherweight crown many times. He would twice bid for the lightweight world title coming up short on both tries. His last world title fight came in 1967 against Yoshiaki Numata. The fight went the distance of 15 rounds and the judges scored it a majority victory in favor of Numata.
Flash Elorde fought until 1971 and retired with a record of 88-27-2 (33 KOs). Elorde, who was a heavy smoker succumbed to lung cancer in 1985 at the age of 49. In 1993, he became the first Asian inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. His grandson, Juan Martin Elorde, has followed in his footsteps, and he now sports a 9-0 (2 KOs) record.
Diosdado Penalosa better know as "Dodie Boy" began his professional boxing career in 1982, and in that same year he fought for his first title winning the Philippines Boxing Federation (PBF) light flyweight title by scoring a 12th round TKO over Romy Austria.
Two fights later he would capture his second title, this time winning the OPBF light flyweight title with an 11th round TKO over Sung Nam Kim. In only his 12th pro fight Penalosa fought for his first world title facing Satoshi Shingaki for the IBF light flyweight belt. Dodie Boy scored a 12th round TKO in route to becoming a world champion. He defended the title three times before vacating the belt to move up in weight to the flyweight division. His first attempt at a flyweight crown was unsuccessful as he lost a 115 round decision to Hilario Zapata. He would finally capture his first flyweight title in 1987 when he defeated Hi-Sup Shin by fifth round knockout. Unfortunately he would lose the title in his next fight via 11th round knockout at the hands of Chang-Ho Choi. Penalosa would fight once more for a world title and again came up short losing a 12 round decision in 1989. His career would come to an end in 1995 with the record of 31-7-2 (13 KOs). Penalosas's younger brother is the popular Gerry Penalosa.
Ceferino Garcia's professional boxing career began in 1923 with a draw; as a matter of fact, his first three bouts were all scored draws. Garcia began his career in the Philippines but most of his fights were fought on American soil. In 1933 he captured the California Welterweight title, a title he would defend many times. In 1937 he landed his first chance at a world championship fighting for the Welterweight title against Barney Ross. The fight would go the distance of 15, with Ross winning the decision.
The following year Garcia would get a second chance at the Welterweight crown, this time against all time great Henry Armstrong. Much like his first championship fight, Garcia again would lose on the scorecards. Finally, in 1939, Garcia became a world champion, winning the Middleweight title by defeating Fred Apostoli by seventh round knockout. Garcia would go on to defend the title twice, including a draw against Henry Armstrong before losing the title in 1940 to Ken Overlin. Ceferino Garcia would never fight for a title again and ended his career in 1945 with a record of 102-25-12 (67 KOs). He is the only Filipino fighter to ever become the world middleweight champion.
Source: Bragging Rights Corner
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