Ignacio Fernandez: The Iron-Fisted Warrior of Silay
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 17 Mar 2025
Silay, Negros Occidental, was built on hard work. Sugarcane stretched for miles, and the air smelled of molasses.
Like most kids in Silay, Ignacio Fernandez worked the land. The fields were tough, but he was tougher. His hands told a different story— fast, heavy, made for something else. The elders saw it. They nudged him toward the ring. It wasn’t farming that called him. It was fighting.
A Fighter to Remember
Boxing back then? No tune-ups. No shortcuts. No cherry picking.
Fernandez turned pro in 1925. He took on everyone, everywhere— 147 fights across the Philippines, the U.S., Singapore, and Australia.
His right hand was his calling card.
When it landed clean, it was lights out.
Source: The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) • Sun, Jul 8, 1928 • Page 49
Career at a Glance
• Years Active: 1925–1944
• Total Fights: 147
• Wins: 62
• Losses: 52
• Draws: 20
• Weight Class: Lightweight
• Height: 5’3” (160 cm)
• Stance: Orthodox
Fighting the Best
Fernandez chased tough fighters. It was his thing.
• Tony Canzoneri – Future champ, Hall of Famer. Some say Fernandez should’ve gotten the win.
• Kid Chocolate – The Cuban star. Fernandez gave him trouble but didn’t get the nod.
• Ceferino Garcia – Another Filipino great. They fought in Manila. Garcia took the decision.
• Al Singer – Future lightweight champ. Fernandez did what nobody saw coming. He knocked him out cold.
December 20, 1929. Madison Square Garden. The odds were 12-to-1 against Fernandez. Al Singer looked sharp early, jabbing, moving, controlling the fight. Fernandez kept coming. Then, in the third round, it happened.
“Singer was doing all the leading in the third when Fernandez suddenly unleashed a wild punch which caught Al on the jaw and sent him reeling against the ropes. He evaded Ignacio’s rush and clinched. But he was weak. Fernandez threw him off and then swung a left hook to the ribs. Singer lowered his guard and Fernandez crashed a right hook to the jaw. It found its mark. Singer tumbled backward into the ropes. Then he fell forward, face down. It was the end.”
The crowd went quiet…The ref counted…Singer didn’t move…Fernandez had just turned the boxing world upside down.
(L-R) Fidel La Barba, shaking hands with Ignacio Fernandez; at back is Gary Blake and Jesus Cortez, manager of Filipino fighters (Source: The Ring Magazine, Mosquito Fleet, Byline Bill Miller, August 1932)
Making His Mark in America
By the late 1920s, Filipino fighters were making waves in the U.S. Pancho Villa had won a world title. Others, Speedy Dado, Clever Sencio, were proving they belonged.
Fernandez wanted his shot.
At Wrigley Field in Chicago, he knocked out Abe Goldstein, a former champ. Again the boxing world took notice.
There was even talk of a fight with Bud Taylor, the bantamweight champion. His team offered $15,000, big money back then. But it never happened. Some say Taylor’s team backed off. Others say it was bad timing. Either way, the chance was gone.
The Final Years
Time catches up. The reflexes slow. The punches hurt more. By the late 1930s, Fernandez wasn’t the same. The fights dragged on. The shots he used to dodge now landed with ease.
His last recorded fight was in 1944, Singapore. He won by TKO. Then, the newspapers stopped printing his name.
In the end, belts and crowns did not matter to Ignacio Fernandez. What did was the thrill of living and dying with his fists.
Ask the guys who fought him. They knew what it meant to share a ring with Young Fernandez.
Sources and Recommended Readings:
• All photos and references in this article are properly attributed and comply with the U.S. Fair Use Doctrine
• Banner Photo of Ignacio Fernandez and The Ring, August 1932, are from the collection of the Philippine Boxing Historical Society and Hall of Fame
• Ignacio Fernandez Record: https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/10102
• Ignacio Fernandez Record: https://boxerlist.com/en/boxer/ignacio-fernandez/8573
• Al Singer versus Ignacio Fernandez Fight recap: (source: Brooklyn Eagle (New York) • Sat, May 18, 1929 • Page 7)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Emmanuel Rivera, RRT.
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