Gabriel Elorde
Legend of Filipino Boxing
Remembering
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| Photo Credit: m.bayaniart.com |
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde (Born: March 25, 1935 - January 2, 1985) was a Filipino professional boxer. He was born and raised in the town of Bogo, Cebu. Elorde was a World Junior Lightweight Champion, he won the title in 1960. In 1963, he was inaugurated as WBC and WBA champion. He still holds the junior lightweight division record for the longest reign of the title. This lasted seven years, and in doing so he made the division legitimate. Elorde is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time along with eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and flyweight champion in the 1920s, Pancho Villa. He is highly loved in the Philippines as a sports and cultural icon, as the first Filipino international boxing champion since Pancho Villa.
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde was a Filipino professional boxer. He won the lineal super featherweight title in 1960. In 1963, he won the inaugural WBC and WBA super featherweight titles. He holds the record at super featherweight division for longest title reign, spanning seven years.
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| Photo Credit: m.positivelyfilipino.com |
Gabriel Elorde is considered one of the best Filipino boxers of all time along with People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao and flyweight champion in the 1920s, Pancho Villa. Many sports fans hailed him, as the first Filipino international boxing champion.
He comes from a poor family and is the youngest of 15 children. Elorde only finished 3rd grade and was forced to drop out due to extreme poverty. He started working as a bowling ball bearer as well as being a carpenter. He endured hardship and he experienced being bound inside a sack and whipped as part of his punishment.
Elorde made his professional debut at the age of 16. He won the World Super Featherweight title on March 16, 1960 by knocking out defending world champion Harold Gomes in seven rounds, ending the 20-year world championship. drought of the country. An estimated 30,000 people inside the newly constructed Araneta Coliseum rushed to the ring to entertain their countrymen. He is the longest reigning world junior lightweight champion ever. Moreover, he is considered the greatest super featherweight champion of all time in WBC History.
An unforgettable event in his boxing life was when he fought Love Alottey at the Araneta Coliseum. When the Philippine National Anthem was played, Alottey continued his punches and stopped running. When the US National Anthem played, people booed, danced and stomped on their feet. Alottey lost to Elorde twice.
He appeared in films, such as "The Flash Elorde Story (1961)," "Ang Tatay Kong Kalbo (1963)," "Mano-Mano (1964) with Fernando Poe, Jr. and" Pamilya Dimagiba (1982). " He also appeared in commercials, uttering the famous phrase “A Peanut Plate” for San Miguel Beer.
His life was cut short at age 49 on January 2, 1985 due to lung cancer. He was a chain smoker at the time of his retirement.
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