Are We Ready For All-Filipino World Boxing Title Fights? (Second of a Series: It Depends)
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 26 Jun 2021
Ancajas (R) and Sultan figure in an all-Filipino title fight in 2018.
Are we, Filipino boxing fans ready for world title fights involving two Pinoy fighters?
Based on the few fights we have come to know and seen, the answer seems: it depends.
Back in the very first registered All Filipino fight for a world boxing championship, i.e. between then reigning titleholder Francisco Guilledo aka Pancho Villa and Inocensio Moldes aka Clever Sencio, it was chronicled that Filipino boxing fans then enthusiastically welcomed it as evidenced by their huge throngs, about 50,000, that attended the fight held at the open Luneta Park arena in May of 1925.
The main reason was that they wanted to demonstrate their warm welcome of Villa, then considered as an idol and a hero for winning the Philippines and Asia's first world pro boxing championship, beating no less than the legendary great Mighty Atom, UK's pride Jimmy Wilde in New York City two years back.
Another reason was that they wanted to see with their own eyes the improvements of Villa since he last left Philippine shores in 1921 and how the latest toast of local boxing then, Sencio would fare against him, a world class fighter and world champion, no less.
Villa proceeded to beat Sencio on points to defend his world title but Pinoy fans, including Sencio supporters and Sencio himself went home, satisfied and fulfilled.
But since then, the sentiments have changed among succeeding generations of Filipino boxing fans.
The next officially recorded all Filipino world title fight happened nearly a century later when IBF world super flyweight champion Pretty Boy Jerwin Ancajas defended his crown as mandated against mandatory challenger Jonas Sultan in May of 2018.
The fight was held in the USA so there was no gauging the general Filipino boxing fans sentiment except for some Filipinos or Fil-Americans in the States who saw the fight at the venue, many reportedly going home dejected at how both Anjajas and Sultan fought "seemingly uninspired" or "walang libog", to put it colloquially. Ancajas won by boring unanimous decision to keep his title.
Back here, the feeling was fellow Pinoys ought to avoid fighting each other in world title bouts, given that there were few Pinoy world titlist as well as world rated contenders. Their efforts are best reserved preserving their titles or challenging for titles against foreign challengers and champions, respectively.
A few months later in September 2018, another all Pinoy world title meeting became necessary when the WBO ordered Donnie 'Ahas' Nietes, then its flyweight champion to clash with Aston Palicte, then its top rated super flyweight contender for the WBO super flyweight crown vacated by Naoya Inoue who had by then successfully moved up to the bantamweight.
Though it was a welcome break for Philippine boxing, the fight was generally lukewarmly greeted by Filipino fans in the Philippines and likewise in the USA where it was again held.
The fight ended in an inconclusive draw by a panel of obviously indifferent American judges (there ought to be a lesson for us to learn here) which only served to reinforce the bias against all Filipino world champion fight, especially those held abroad.
However, a change in the pattern of Filipino boxing fan mentality was observed when in another lucky break, two Filipino top rated world contenders were picked to fight for the then vacant IBF minimumweight crown left by another Japanese upcomer Hiroto Kyoguchi.
Bicolano Pedro "The General" Taduran and iligan City's then undefeated "Silent Assasin" Samuel Salva were mandated by the IBF to meet in September 2019 for the vacant title with Taduran instantly becoming a household name by forcing the favored Salva to quit after five rounds of their bout held in San Andres Gym in Manila.
Their bout was generally welcomed as another Pinoy Vic Saludar had just lost his WBO minimumweight title to Wilfredo Mendez on points in Puerto Rico the preceding August. Saludar had previously won the WBO belt and defended it against two separate Japanese opponents in Japan.
It also helped that Filipino minimumweight fighters are a ubiquitous presence at the top of the world rankings of the four major sanctioning bodies that breaks are easier to come by especially with the emergencies caused by the Covid 19 pandemic which restrict travel and holding of world title matches.
With one of the two popular and active Thai world titlists specifically WBA's Thamanon Niyomtrong aka Knockout CP Freshmart virtually locked at home with foreign challengers unable to enter, the WBA was forced to elevate him to super champion leaving the regular championship vacant.
To fill the vacancy, the WBA approved the request of a Filipino promoter to hold the championship fight involving two highly rated Filipinos, ex WBO titlist Vic Saludar and the WBA supposed mandatory challenger Robert Paradero in the Philippines under a strictly supervised bubble setup.
After a few postponements, Filipino fans rejoiced when the fight was finally held last February 2021 in Biñan City, Laguna with Saludar becoming world champion again by nipping Paradero in a closely contested match which was the first world title bout to be held in the Philippines since the coronavirus pandemic started.
The success of that bubble boxing promotion encouraged another all Filipino world title fight that same February but this time held at Bula Gym in GenSan in Mindanao with Pedro Taduran losing his IBF world minimumweight belt to Zamboangeño Rene Mark Cuarto, also by close decision.
It is worth noting that both fights were followed by many local boxing fans and actually covered by the media, including Ring Magazine's Ryan Songaila.
Based on the foregoing, it could be said that we Filipinos have always ready for all Filipino world boxing bouts though it depends on who are fighting, the necessity of the confrontation and where the fights are held.
But how about an all Filipino world title unification bout as that between WBC champion Nonito Donaire and WBO kingpin Johnriel Casimero?
To be continued.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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