When Manny ?PacMan? Pacquiao and Ricky ?Hitman? Hatton lock mitts on May 3 (Manila time) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, they figure to take the British-Filipino glove rivalry to a whole new level.
Records reveal that the flyweight division (112 lbs) has been the repository of some great fights involving British and Filipino pugilists. The Pacquiao-Hatton fistic affair will take place at a heavier weight class?junior welterweight (140 lbs)?and some two decades after Briton Dave McAuley narrowly defeated Dodie Boy Pe?alosa for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title.
The first high-profile match involving a Filipino and a British fighter took place on June 18, 1923, when Pancho Villa stopped Jimmy ?Mighty Atom? Wilde in seven rounds for the world flyweight title.
Born Francisco Guilledo in August 1901, Villa was brought to the United States in 1922 by American promoter Frank Churchill on the firm belief that the 5?1? slugger from Ilog, Negros Occidental, was the next big thing in professional boxing.
Villa didn?t disappoint. He won the US flyweight title in September 1922 and posted two successful defenses before losing a highly disputed decision to American Frankie Genaro in March 1923. The fans at New York?s Madison Square Garden protested the decision and nearly ignited a riot. Noted American sportswriter and cartoonist Bert ?Hype? Igoe insisted Villa was robbed of a clear victory.
Villa vs. Wilde
Tom O?Rourke, who promoted the fight, tried to keep the peace by promising Villa a shot at the world flyweight title then held by Wilde. Wilde was no English muffin. Born on May 15, 1892, in Tylorstown, Wales, he turned pro in 1911 and won recognition as world flyweight king in December 1916, when he stopped Young Zulu Kid in 11 rounds.
Wilde showed up in the Villa fight with an impressive record of 137-4 with 99 knockouts. An estimated crowd of 23,000 trooped to the Polo Grounds in New York, paying $94,950 to witness the highly publicized showdown between the hardnosed Filipino challenger and the proud British champion.
Inactive since 1921, Wilde exhibited ring rust and Villa capitalized to the hilt. In the seventh round, Villa sent a badly battered Wilde to the canvas with a smashing right to the jaw.
Wilde never fought again. There were reports that he died because of the beating he absorbed from Villa, but Wilde actually lived until the age of 76. It was Villa whose life was cut short in 1925.
By beating Wilde, Villa became the first world-boxing champion from Asia. He was still a world champion when he lost an over-the-weight, non-title match to Jimmy McLarnin in July 1925 and died a few days later because of a gum infection.
The Wilde-Villa clash was the first of a select number of title matches that featured a British fighter against a Filipino slugger.
Small Montana
In September 1935, Small Montana (Benjamin Gan in real life) earned recognition as world flyweight champion from the New York Commission when he won by decision against Midget Wolgast. Montana held the title until 1937, when he lost to British Benny Lynch in a unification fight.
A native of Clydesdale, Scotland, Lynch started out as a newspaper boy before entering pro boxing in 1931. In September 1935, Lynch halted countryman Jackie Brown to earn recognition as NBA (National Boxing Association, later known as the World Boxing Association) flyweight king.
In a battle for the combined National Boxing Association-New York Commission flyweight bauble, Lynch convincingly beat Montana. According to the Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Boxing, Lynch beat Montana ?after a brilliant display of box-fighting.?
Decades of rivalry
The Philippine-Britain ring rivalry continued in August 1950, when a 33-year-old Dado Marino defeated Terry Allen of England for the world flyweight diadem.
Allen, born in Islington, London, in June 1924, was a fast-moving, sharp-punching boxer. He turned pro in 1942 and became a world champion on April 25, 1950, when he won by decision against Honore Pratesi. Allen reigned as champion for only 98 days.
Three decades later, on September 27, 1983, Cebuano Frank Cede?o tamed Briton Charlie Magri in six rounds for the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title before a stunned crowd at the historic Wembley Stadium.
Magri had won the WBC title in March 1983 from Eleoncio Mercedes. The victory made Magri the first British fighter to win the flyweight title since Walter McGowan (who beat Filipino Ric Magramo on points in a non-title match in 1963) in 1967. Alas, against Cede?o, Magri kissed the canvas three times.
In February 1987, Pe?alosa won the IBF flyweight title with a fifth-round knockout of South Korean Hi Sup Chin. Pe?alosa lost the IBF title seven months later to Chang Ho Choi. In a bid to regain the fly crown, Dodie Boy dropped a decision to Northern Ireland native Dave McAuley in 1989. McAuley was exceptionally tall (5?7?) for a flyweight, and he dodged defeat with a close split-decision victory.
Rolando Bohol followed in the footsteps of Cede?o and Pe?alosa by winning the IBF flyweight crown from Chang Ho Choi in January 1988. The light-punching Bohol made one successful defense before losing the crown on October 6, 1988 to British challenger Duke McKenzie by 11th-round knockout.
A native of Croydon, London, McKenzie won the British flyweight title in 1985 and stopped Magri in five rounds in a title defense before dominating Bohol in London for the IBF crown. McKenzie, who lost the IBF title to fellow Briton McAuley in 1989, won the WBO super bantamweight crown before retiring for good in 1998 with a record of 39-7 with 20 knockouts.
Pacquiao vs. Hatton
The head-to-head tally shows the Philippines and Britain in a 3-3 stalemate in fights with the flyweight crown at stake. Pacquiao, 48-3, 36 knockouts, is the odds-on pick to prevail over Hatton, and the ?PacMan? is definitely hell-bent on making his countrymen proud.
?Siguradong malaking labanan ng mga fans ang nakasalang na mangyayari sa May 2 sa MGM Grand Arena at dahil sa pareho kaming agresibong mandirigma. Isang magandang labanan ang inaasahan [Fans will a see a big fight for sure on May 2 at MGM Grand Arena, because we?re both aggressive warriors. A great fight is expected],? said Pacquiao.
Hatton, 45-1, 32 knockouts, is equally confident of his chances, insisting that: ?I am still at my prime at 140 pounds, and it will take a very good fighter to beat me in this frame of mind.?
The record books do not lie: boxing fans have always been treated to a great fight whenever a Filipino and a British pug clash in the squared circle for a major title. Hatton-Pacquiao figures to be another classic clash of the titans.
