Violence against boxers
story of Filipino boxer Johnriel Casimero, who was nearly mugged by an unruly crowd in Argentina after he soundly defeated local boy Luis Alberto Lazarte for the International Boxing Federation flyweight crown, is not really new in Philippine boxing. Before Casimero, there have been a number of Filipino boxers who had to survive a hostile reception in a foreign land just to bring home a world boxing championship.
Believe it or not, it was the threat of a riot that made Pancho Villa the Philippines and Asia’s first world boxing champion. The year was 1923. Villa was the reigning United States flyweight champion and had been embraced by the Americans as their “little brown doll” because of his innate courage and punching power. In March of the same year, Villa was matched with Frankie Genaro for the third time. Genaro dodged defeat with a close decision win, but the result was heavily criticized by American sportswriter Hype Igoe, who insisted Villa was robbed of a win. The fans at the Madison Square Garden were on the verge of igniting a riot when promoter Tom O’rourke announced that Villa, despite being the loser, would be given a shot at the world title instead of Genaro. On June 18, 1923, Villa stopped Englishman Jimmy Wilde in seven rounds to win the world flyweight diadem.
While Villa benefitted from the near-riot, this was not the case for some of the Filipino world champions who would follow in his footsteps.
On July 27, 1964, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to defend the world super featherweight title against Teruo Osaka. Elorde appeared to be losing the fight when he dropped Osaka in the 12th round. Osaka got up, but Filipino referee Jose Padilla stopped the fight at the 1:45 mark of the round. At the time of the stoppage, Osaka was ahead in the scorecards of two judges. Feeling that referee Padilla saved Elorde from defeat, irate Japanese fans hurled seat cushions to the ring. Elorde had to be escorted by the police on his way to the dressing room. The fans only calmed down when Kotai Kikuchi, then the Secretary General of the Japanese Boxing Commission, aired over the public address system that Padilla would be summoned to explain his decision.
Elorde found himself in hostile territory again in September 1965, when he fought Puerto Rican Frankie Narvaez in a non-title, lightweight match at the Madison Square Garden. A crowd of 7,000 came to watch the fight, majority of whom were Puerto Ricans (only 600 Filipino fans were in attendance). Elorde rocked Narvaez three times but only managed to salvage a split-decision win. Elorde had barely reached the dressing room when pandemonium broke out. Chairs were flying and an organ worth $10,000 was pushed out of the gallery and fell into ringside. Four persons sustained injuries. The New York police, with firemen and their hoses, arrested five Puerto Ricans.
In March 1996, Luisito Espinosa traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico to defend the World Boxing Council featherweight crown against Mexican Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez. Espinosa knocked the daylights out of Gonzalez in the fourth round. Gonzalez was knocked out so bad he had to be carried out of the ring in a stretcher. Mexican fans expressed their disappointment at the outcome by hurling to the ring just about anything they could get hold of. Espinosa had to literally bob and weave his way to the dugout. The riot was definitely no laughing matter. As Espinosa confided to this writer years later, “may nakita pa kaming tinga ng bala sa ring.”
In boxing, the road to the throne is not paved in gold. Casimero himself realized this when he literally had to take on Lazarte’s comrades to bring home the IBF belt. Lazarte employed every dirty tactic in the book, but Casimero refused to go down to the former’s level. Casimero remained patient and ended up stopping Lazarte in 10 rounds.
Amid the riot they ignited, Argentinian fight fans went home empty handed. Casimero got the last laugh as he returned to the country with the flyweight belt strapped around his waist.