Bantamweight: Former Waterloo, Now Philippines' Glory Division (First Part: Tracing An Ugly Past)
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 08 Jul 2021
Little Dado.
Knowingly or otherwise, Nonito Donaire recently pulling out of a fight versus countryman Johnriel Casimero quashed--I hope just postponed or delayed--what could have been a historical milestone in Philippine boxing history, i.e. for the first time two popular Filipino world champions in the same weight class duking it out in a major global title unification.
To the naive and uninitiated in international professional boxing--expressing a misguided sense of Filipino nationalism and brotherhood--what happened was a relief, seeing that two Filipinos will no longer have to fight and hurt each other.
But to the knowledgeable and perceptive, the fight falling through was an unfortunate waste or even loss of rare opportunity to showcase the Filipino global competitiveness in pro boxing.
And what makes the opportunity loss more regrettable is that we could have showcased such premium quality in what was formerly regarded as our waterloo division or weight class in boxing: the bantamweight.
Many so called local boxing fans just are not aware of or do not realize those long years of futility and heartbreaks we have to go through before our fighters finally made the breakthrough in this weight class, one of the original eight traditional divisions in pro boxing.
Since Eleuterio Zapanta, better known as Little Dado first lay claim to the world bantamweight crown in the war-time years (albeit the fact that he was not officially recognized by the then National Boxing Association or NBA, forerunner of the WBA), efforts by succeeding Filipino fighters to win the world championship in the division particularly in the one world champion era, had been met by failures after failures.
After Dado, four other brave Filipino ring campaigners tried but failed to win the legitimate world bantamweight title in the era of one world champion.
In the immediate pre war, the country's brightest hope to win the world bantamweight crown, Tirso del Rosario was able to lure then world champion Manuel Ortiz to make a defense in Manila. The bout was set five days before Christmas in 1947 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. Del Rosario fought gallantly for 15 rounds but the international panel of judges were unconvinced as they gave Ortiz a unanimous points decision. To Del Rosario's credit, he outpointed the American a few years later but in a non title rematch after a series of fights that also saw Ortiz going up and beating local top bantamweights Tany Campo (points) and Bonnie Espinosa and Larry Bataan, both by knockout.
The next opportunity came two years later when then world flyweight champion Dado Marino, a Filipino born in Hawaii, challenged Ortiz on March 1, 1949 in Honolulu but like Del Rosario before him, he lost by unanimous 15 round decision.
Ortiz proved to be formidable champion not only to Filipino challengers as he held on to his world bantamweight title for more than seven years (Septemberv1942-May 1950) over two terms interrupted only in 1947 when he briefly lost the crown to Harold Dade.
It will take another six years before another opportunity came for a Filipino challenger to view for the world bantamweight crown. On February 25, 1956, Leo Espinosa traveled all the way to Ciudad Mexico to challenge NBA/WBC champion Raul Raton Macias. Espinosa fought bravely before a wildly cheering pro Macias partisan crowd but the Mexican titlist proved too strong and skilled. Eventually, Espinosa lost steam, struggling in Mexico City's high elevation and succumbed to a 10th round knockout loss.
A year later, on June 15, 1957, Dommy Ursua, the Philippines Toy Bulldog, lasted a round more, losing by 11th round knockout to the same Raton Macias in Daly City, California, USA.
No Filipino fighter would be given another chance to vie for the world bantamweight championship until 1963, already the period of the rivaling WBA and breakaway WBC when on May 18, 1963, Bicolano Johnny Jamito challenged universally recognized champion Eder Jofre of Brazil at the famed Rizal Memorial Coliseum. Jamito gave a good account of himself but Jofre showed the stuff that made him an all time great and scored an eighth round stoppage to keep his crown.
Jofre would lose his crown to another boxing legend Fighting Harada of Japan who would hold on the title for many years before being upset by Australia's Lionel Rose, the first aboriginal world champion. The best and most prominent Filipino bantamweight fighters to ever cross mitts against Harada and Rose were Tiny Palacio and Baby Lorona but they were in non title bouts which they also lost but only after giving a good fight.
No Filipinos nor Asian fighter would come near to even vying for the world bantamweight crown in the late 60s through the 70s as Mexican fighters led by the legendary Ruben Olivares, Jesus Castillo, Carlos Zarate, Alfonso Zamora and Lupe Pintor dominated the division.
The emergence of the boxing alphabet soup organization's era beginning in the early 80s, though bad for the sport of pro boxing, however opened opportunities to Filipino as well as other Asian boxers to make or remake their marks in the Latino dominated bantamweight class.
But it was an inauspicious restart.
On April 15, 1984, the newly created International Boxing Federation or IBF, designated Filipino Elmer Magallano and Japanese Satoshi Shingaki to fight for its inaugural world title at bantamweight.
It was fishy. Shingaki in an earlier world title fight sanctioned by the same IBF at the lighter minimumweight class or 105 lbs division, was knocked out by Filipino Doddie Boy Peñalosa, Sr. Magallano on the other hand was not even highly rated in the Philippines, making his IBF ranking and designation highly dubious.
That was what Shingaki and his handlers were waiting for and Shingaki never allowed another title opportunity pass, scoring an 8th round stoppage over the hapless Magallano to become IBF inaugural world bantamweight champion.
But the Japanese Boxing Commission would not want to have anything to do with that farce and decided that it will not recognize nor sanction any so called world title fights outside those of the WBA and the WBC, a decision it will stand by for the next more than three decades until very recently.
To Shingaki's credit, he will be instrumental in the rise of another Australian boxing legend, Jeff Fenech. Shingaki would lose his IBF title by knockout to Fenech and lose to Fenech by another knockout in a gallant bid to regain the same in 1985. Somehow those fights bolstered the image of the fighting Aussie.
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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