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Philippines, 26 Apr 2024 |
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Four Pinoy Boxers Previously Known as Hawaiian Punch Before Brian Viloria By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Tue, 14 Apr 2020  The Hawaiian Punch was originally an ice cream topping syrup made from pineapple and five other fruits sourced from the US Pacific island state of Hawaii which later became an appetizing alcoholic party drink when laced with vodka. Contrary to popular belief that it originated from Hawaii, it was formulated by a California based company which also first popularized it in the usually sunny West Coast state in the early 50s. For some reason, Hawaiian Punch soon became a favorite fight alias usually assigned to boxers of Filipino origins who were born or moved to and settled permanently in the island state. One theory advanced to explain this was that most early Filipino migrants who flocked to Hawaii worked either as pineapple growers or pickers. Many now know that Brian Viloria as the Hawaiian Punch because he formally adopted it as his nom de guerre and he customarily capped his winning fights with some hula dance to highlight the fact that he was born in Waipahu, Hawaii of Ilocano stock. But before him, four ethnic Pinoys had one time or the other first became known or identified by this fight name or alias. 
SALVADOR "DADO" MARINO Salvador AKA Dado Marino, the first ethnic Filipino born in the island to become a world boxing champion in the early 50s was believed to be the first to be assigned with the alias as the Hawaiian Punch by the continental American boxing press. Marino also traced his ancestral roots to the northern Philippines However, because the Hawaiian Punch, the consumer product only started to catch on at around the time he was already in his later prime fighting years, the nickname did not rub on him as much as those that followed him. Marino won the world flyweight championship by defeating Terry Allen in 1950 in Honululu. After one successful defense against the same Allen also in Hawaii, he lost the title on points to Japan's Yoshio Shirai who became his country's first world boxing champion in 1952 in Tokyo. He had previously boxed as bantamweight and fought for the world championship in the division losing on points to American champion Manuel Ortiz in Honululu in the late 40s. 
BEN VILLAFLOR More than two decades later, another ethnic Filipino came to inherit the Hawaiian Punch mantle in the person of Benjamin AKA Ben Villaflor who moved to Hawaii from the Philippines in April 1971 to gain international exposure, eventually winning another world boxing championship in the process the following year. Villaflor, barely past 19 years old at that time, outpointed Alfredo Marcano of Venezuela over 15 rounds in Honululu on April 25, 1972 to wrest the WBA junior lightweight crown. Originally from Negros in the Visayas, he was among the youngest ever to become world champion. Villaflor would defend his world title two times in his first reign both in Hawaii, drawing with Victor Echagaray and losing it to Japanese Kuniaki Shibata via split decision. He would regain the title also in Honululu in the rematch with Shibata, knocking out the Japanese two division world titlist in the very first round. After making two successful defenses, one in Japan and another in the Philippines and a rather inauspicious debut in mainland USA where he figured in a technical draw against an American lightweight contender, Villaflor settled permanently in Hawaii where he had his other defenses, including a controversial draw with Sammy Serrano of Puerto Rico. He lost his crown to Serrano on points in their WBA ordained rematch in San Juan, Puerto Rico in November 1976 after which he immediately announced his retirement. After a stint managing boxers, he later on became a Sergeant at Arms in the Hawaiian State Senate. 
ANDY GANIGAN After Villaflor, came Andrew Ganigan, another FilAm who was born in Waipahu of Ilocano parentage. He was one of the most dangerous lightweights of his era though not blessed with solid jaw. His daredevil style of fighting made him a crowd-pleasing favorite. In most cases Andy got to his opponent first thus allowing him to fight to the top of the rankings. Ganigan turned professional in 1972 and by 1977 he had won his first 25 fights, 23 by KO. Among his feats were a two round demolition of Tury “The Fury” Pineda and an eighth round stoppage of Vicente Mijares Saldivar for the NABF lightweight crown. In 1978 Andy suffered his first loss when he met Chicago’s Johnny Lira with the tenacious Lira outlasting Ganigan in scoring a stoppage victory for the USBA lightweight title. In 1979 Andy defeated Mijares Saldivar again for the NABF title. But in a major upset, Roberto Vasquez halted Ganigan in seven rounds. In a 1980 rematch Andy turned the tables stopping Vasquez in seven. In 1981 then highly regarded future Mexican world lightweight titlist Rodolfo “Gato” Gonzalez outscored Ganigan. At around that time popular Sean O’Grady had failed in a bloody attempt to win the WBC lightweight title from Jim Watt. Later Sean challenged WBA tittist Hilmer Kenty. In a true “closet classic”, O’Grady outscored Kenty to win the title. Due to complicated boxing politics Sean either gave up or was stripped of recognition by the WBA. Sean’s father Pat O’Grady then formed the World Athletic Association (WAA) with Sean as lightweight champion. Sean would defend that title against Ganigan. It was a disaster for O’Grady who was floored three times by the explosive Ganigan. The fight ended in round two with Sean shell shocked. The WBA title had little meaning to Andy but he used the victory over O’Grady as a springboard to a 1982 fight with Alexis Arguello. Ganigan shocked the crowd and Arguello by flooring Alexis in the first round. Arguello had power equal to or better then Ganigan’s though. Soon Alexis overpowered Andy and stopped the game Hawaiian in round five. That prompted some scribes to dismiss him as all "gun 'n gun", and no defense. In 1983 Ganigan challenged Jimmy Paul for the USBA lightweight crown and lost by 6th round TKO after which Andy hanged up the gloves. His final record was 34-5 with 30 big knockouts. During his tenure as a contender he was a force to be reckoned with and no one who had witnessed it never forgot his demolition of O'Grady. 
Jesus Salud (R) poses with Edito Villamor. JESUS SALUD It was said that it was Jesus Salud, the next to be called Hawaiian Punch after Ganigan in the 1980s, who actually prodded Brian Viloria to adopt the Hawaiian Punch as his official fight nickname. Salud was born in Ilocos Norte but his family moved to Waipahu, Hawaii in 1970. As a young boy, he was often bullied because of his difficulty speaking English. That prompted him to learn how to box at a very young age. At age 8, he went to Waipahu Recreation Center to train under coach Al Silva. He showed extraordinary dedication to boxing, religiously attending after school even when his family had moved to Nanakuli, even when it was raining and staying until late at night. That plus his personally asking Silva to make him a champion, prompted Silva to handle him when he turned pro in 1983, a career that would span 19 years through 2002. Silva coincidentally also previously trained Salud's idols, Andy Ganigan and Ben Villaflor. Highlight of his career was winning the WBA super bantamweight title on December 11, 1989 from Juan Jose Estrada in a fight he was dominating until that fateful ninth round where the referee disqualified the Mexican defending champion for continuous low blows. It was the same Estrada who few years back also controversially stopped Luisito Espinosa with low blows in an NABF super bantamweight title bout. Salud did not lose that title in the ring but it was stripped for his refusal to defend it against Luis Mendoza in the latter's hometown in Colombia. Salud also had earlier won the NABF super bantamweight title and later the IBC and the WBO Asia Pacific belts in the division. He fought 37 of his first 61 fights in Hawaii and moved on to California for better competitions where he logged 24 more bouts. He finished his career with a 63 wins 13 losses record, with 38 of his wins coming by way of knockout. Throughout his career, he was neither flashy or brash in a sport where self promotion can lead to quick rise to the top, he just efficiently went about his business atop the ring. Salud, together with Villaflor and Ganigan are all members of the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame. 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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