Flash Elorde-Filipino Flash

Before Manny Pacquiao came along, there was no doubt if you asked the Filipino people or the boxing experts who was the greatest fighter this nation ever produced. The answer invariably came out: Flash Elorde. He is the longest reigning world champion from the Philippines also, with a 7-year reign as the world super featherweight champion, between 1960 and 1967. He even lost his title due to a controversial home decision. Elorde was a southpaw who could box and move and slug it out when needed. He was fast, he was slick and he was tough and even possessed punching power to an extent. Though he has 27 losses on his record, at least half of them came about due to cuts or controversial decisions. The rest came due to him being either too young and inexperienced or past his best and fighting too long. He fought for 20 years as a pro but was stopped only 4 times, once due to cuts and once in something that looked like an early stoppage. His record is 89 wins with 33 ko's, 27 losses and 2 draws.

Gabriel Elorde was born 25 March 1935 in Bogo, on the Cebu island of the Philippines. He turned pro at 16 and fought at first as a bantamweight, having his first fight on 16 June '51 and beating the 1-0 Kid Gonzaga by KO4. He went 9-0 and then suffered his first loss to Kid Independence by KO10 on 16 October that same year. He won the Filipino "Games & Amusement Board" bantam title by decisioning Tanny Campo over 12 rounds on 26 July '52. On 18 October that year he also won the Oriental title against the 72-9-5 Hiroshi Horiguchi, by SD12 in Japan. He soon grew into a featherweight, standing 5'5 and a half inch. However, his first significant fight there didn't go so well, as he dropped a 12-round decision to Larry Bataan, 20 May '53 in Manila. It was a fight for the Oriental title. He then went back to bantamweight and made one defense of his Oriental title by decisioning another Japanese, Akiyoshi Akanuma, again in Japan. He once again tried to win the featherweight version of this title against Shigeji Kaneko, but again dropped a rather close UD12, 29 May '54 in Japan. On 20 July '55 came his first breakthrough fight, which would put him on the world map; he fought against reigning world featherweight champion Sandy Saddler, one of the greatest featherweights ever, but it was a non-title fight. Elorde already had 8 losses on his record by now, so nobody gave him any chance to win but he produced a great upset fighting in Manila, decisoning Saddler over 10 rounds. Saddler was known for using his head a lot and butted Elorde repeatedly, without getting a point deducted. The young Filipino swarmed Saddler the veteran and kept him at bay with constant attack. The verdict was clearly in his favor. In the end, Saddler praised the young Flash and said:"He's a great boy. I'll give him a chance at my title."

And so it happened. The rematch with the world title at stake happened 18 January next year in Cow Palace, Daly City, USA: the bout was rather slow and Saddler again retorted to butting, which produced a cut over Elorde's left eye in the 7th round. Flash stormed back in the 9th and bloodied the champion's nose with a series of combinations. However, the blood over Elorde's left eye started to flow increasingly and the fight was stopped early in round 13. Despite the cut being caused by a headbutt, the decision was a TKO win for Saddler, which was then protested by many callers who phoned in from long-distance calls. So ended that attempt, unfairly for the 22-yearold Filipino. He then started fighting as a super featherweight, a division where he would carve out his greatness. After losing 2 fights, one by a questionable split decision and one by unanimous decision, to the 5'2 Puerto Rican Miguel Berrios, Flash won the Filipino and Oriental lightweight titles in 1957, within a month's space. He would come on the losing end of several more questionable decisions until Elorde finally achieved his great triumph fighting for the world super feather title against Harold Gomes, the defending champion. It was 9 days before his 25th birthday, 16 March '60 at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and Flash put the Rhode Island-born and based Gomes down twice in round 2, once in round 3, once in round 5 and finally twice in round 7 to win by KO7 and finally realize his dream of world championship. He then gave Gomes a rematch in America, again at Cow Palace in Daly City, California, 17 August. This time he needed only 80 seconds to dispatch Gomes, as he put him down twice in the first round to win by a sensational knockout. He kept fighting as a lightweight in between and defeated the noted Venezuelan Vicente Rivas by UD10 after knocking him down four times.

His second world title defense was a UD15 against Joey Lopes but in the third he again impressed by TKO'ing 52-3-2 Sergio Caprari in 1 round after flooring him three times. More notably, he decisioned famed contender Johnny Bizzarro in his fourth defense, 16 February '63 in Manila. His fifth defense against Ghanaian Love Allotey ended in a disqualification after 11 rounds, due to Allotey constant butting, which opened a deep cut over the champion's right eye. Flash then decided to challenge the world lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz in a super fight which took place in Manila 15 February '64. Elorde cut the champion over the right eye in round 2 but Ortiz kept his composure and slowly but steadily wore the challenger down. In round 14, as Ortiz battered Elorde against the ropes, the fight was stopped by the referee, much to Elorde's chagrin. "For the love of God, the fight should have continued. I don't deny he hit me good in the 14th, but I was not ready to go down yet. I waited 5-6 years for a crack at the lightweight title. This should not have happened the way it did Saturday." Elorde said later. He went back to defending his own world title and stopped the Japanese challenger Teruo Kosaka twice, first by TKO12 and then by KO15. On 19 March '66 he scored his perhaps best victory when he beat Ismael Laguna by UD10, also knocking him down twice in the process. Laguna started aggressively but appeared to lose some of his steam after first getting put down in round 4 with a left hook and a right cross. It was the same combination that again put him down in round 9. The soorecards were surprisingly close however. He then faced the man who would become his nemesis for the first time-Yoshiaki Numata of Japan, in a fight for the Oriental lightweight title. He dropped a close decision over 12 rounds fighting away in Japan. He made his tenth and the last successful world title defense on 22 October that same year when he beat Vicente Milan Derado of Argentina by MD15.

Because of what he felt was a premature stoppage in their first fight, Elorde seeked another shot at Ortiz' world title. This time he had to come over to USA and the fight commenced on 28 November that 1966, at Madison Square Garden. This time there would be no protest as Ortiz battered the Filipino, who looked like a different man than in their first fight, for most of the bout. Clearly ahead on the scorecards after 13 rounds, Ortiz nailed Elorde with a brutal left hook in round 14 that put him down and out. It was now clear Flash was no longer the same man, having fought for 15 years in some very hard fights. He finally lost his world title to Numata in Japan on 15 June '67, but in something that might have been a hometown decision, since he put Numata down in round 3 and the referee scored it a draw, with the two Japanese judges giving it to the hometown challenger. After that, Elorde also lost his next 3 fights by decision and finally retired in 1971, after losing his last fight by UD10 to Hiroyuki Miranami. One might say he never was too lucky against Japanese fighters.

Gabriel Flash Elorde died from lung cancer 2 January 1985, still aged 49. He left behind a great legacy and also a boxing dynasty, as his grandsons Juan Martin and Juan Migel became professional boxers. He was inducted into the IBHOF in 1993. He was perhaps the most popular fighter ever in his native country and even today is as loved as Manny Pacquiao and remembered with great fondness and respect. He had an offensive style of fighting but could also box and be clever when needed. As mentioned, due to fighting abroad often, especially before becoming a world champion, he lost some fights due to preferrential judging. He was the first Filipino to hold the WBC and WBA titles and the first Filipino to become the world super featherweight champion.