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By Ed C. Tolentino, Contributor
MANNY PACQUIAO may be the overwhelming favorite
in his June 29 showdown with World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight
champion David Diaz at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las
Vegas, but the record books actually reveal that Filipino fighters
have had only one kind of luck in the lightweight class—bad.
Bert Somodio, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Andy
Ganigan, Dindo Canoy and Randy Suico all fought for the lightweight
(135 pounds) championship and all ended up on the losing end.
Dubbed the “Nursery Kid,” Somodio fought
from 1959 to 1964, compiling a record of 13-8 with 11 knockouts. On
October 28, 1961, Somodio challenged American Joe “Old Bones”
Brown at the Araneta Coliseum for the world lightweight title.
Brown, who showed up with an impressive won-lost record of 84-21,
had little trouble in scoring a 15-round unanimous decision. The
Filipino kissed the canvas in the 5th and 11th rounds.
Just six months after beating Somodio, on April
21, 1962, Brown yielded the lightweight title to Puerto Rican Carlos
Ortiz. On February 15, 1964, Ortiz arrived in Manila to defend the
title against then reigning world junior lightweight (130 pounds)
champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.
Before a mammoth crowd at the Rizal Stadium,
Ortiz survived a scare in the second and seventh rounds to stop
Elorde with a blistering barrage at 1:44 of the 14th round. Elorde
protested the decision of referee James Wilson to stop the bout,
insisting that “I am not groggy.”
“If I didn’t stop it, he [Elorde] might have
been killed,” countered Wilson.
Elorde challenged Ortiz again in November 1966
at the Madison Square Garden in New York and the result of the
rematch was even more lopsided in favor of the lightweight champ.
Ortiz pummeled Elorde to a pulp, sending the “Flash” flat on his
back at 2:01 of the 14th round.
It took another 16 years before another Filipino
fought for the lightweight diadem. In May 1982, at the Aladdin Hotel
in Las Vegas, Fil-Hawaiian slugger Andy Ganigan took on Nicaraguan
star Alexis Arguello for the WBC lightweight title. Ganigan, who
earned a shot at the title by knocking out former WBA lightweight
titleholder Sean O’Grady, started out strong and knocked down
Arguello at the end of the first round. Arguello got up and
proceeded to dissect the one-dimensional Ganigan in the next three
frames. In the fifth stanza, Arguello pulled down the curtain by
viciously taking out Ganigan.
Journeyman Dindo Canoy was next on the chopping
block. Canoy, who fought from 1988 to 2002, found himself in a title
fight with World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight titlist
Orzubek Nazarov in Japan in November 1995. Canoy, who had been
previously knocked out by former world champions Morris East and Ike
Quartey, lost via lopsided unanimous decision to the unbeaten
Russian.
Suico was the last Filipino to battle for the
135-pound crown. A natural junior lightweight, Suico took on WBA
lightweight king Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz in July 2006 in Las
Vegas. Suico was reduced into a human punching bag in a ninth-round
knockout defeat. Diaz slammed body shots, left hooks and uppercuts
into Suico almost at will from the opening bell. The American landed
55 percent of his blows compared to the Filipino, who landed just 12
percent.
More than fighting for a chance to win an
unprecedented fourth world boxing title, Pacquiao will be looking to
salvage the reputation of Filipino fighters in the lightweight
class. The smart money is on PacMan to pull off the task.
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