The Secret Garden is the title of a classic 1911 children?s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett and the name of a popular Irish-Norwegian New Age duo. Neither the book nor the musical tandem has anything to do with Madison Square Garden whose history is far from being a secret.
The venue traces its roots to 1879 and has experienced four reincarnations, the last in 1968 when the indoor multi-purpose stadium reestablished its permanent home in Manhattan. The Garden, as it has always been fondly called, was where classic bouts were fought and became known as the ?mecca of boxing.? In 1883, John L. Sullivan made his Garden debut, knocking out Herbert Slade in three rounds. Two years later, Sullivan was proclaimed the first world heavyweight boxing champion under the Marquess of Queensberry rules.
It was at the Garden where Muhammad Ali figured in eight fights, including his 1971 defeat to Joe Frazier and their rematch in 1974. It was where Ali demolished Zora Folley in seven, Oscar Bonavena in 15 and Floyd Patterson in seven.
It was also at the Garden where the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson saw action in over 20 fights, Emile Griffith bludgeoned Benny (Kid) Paret to win by a 12th round knockout with the Cuban never regaining consciousness in 1962 and Roberto Duran stopped Ken Buchanan in a savage brawl in 1972.
The first Filipinos ever to fight at the Garden were flyweight Pancho Villa and junior lightweight Elino Flores who both belonged to Frank Churchill?s stable. They appeared in the same card on Nov. 16, 1922, with Villa outpointing Abe Goldstein in 15 rounds for the US flyweight crown and Flores settling for a 12-round draw with Jack Bernstein. Villa fought thrice more at the Garden, beating Terry Martin and George Marks and losing to Frankie Genaro. Flores became the first Filipino to fight for a world title when he was decisioned by Johnny Dundee for the junior lightweight crown at the Garden on Feb. 2, 1923. Four months later, Villa became the first Filipino ? and Asian ? to win a world championship when he halted Jimmy Wilde for the flyweight belt before 40,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York.
Both Villa and Flores posted wins in their last Garden outings. Villa beat Marks in what should?ve been a world flyweight title defense in 1924 but the challenger failed to make the 112-pound limit, checking in at 116 1/2 while Flores trounced Tommy Noble on points in 1923. Villa died a day after he underwent an operation to arrest the infection caused by ulcerated gums in San Francisco a year after the Marks fight, two weeks before turning 24.
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The late Flash Elorde fought twice at the Garden, beating Puerto Rican Frankie Narvaez via a split 10-round decision that triggered a riot among fans in 1965 and losing to Carlos Ortiz on a 14th round knockout in a second foiled bid for the world lightweight title in 1966.
Another Filipino ring great Ceferino Garcia won the world middleweight title with a seventh round knockout over Fred Apostoli at the Garden in 1939. Garcia logged eight fights in the New York mecca and made his first appearance in 1936, outpointing Cleto LoCatelli. It was at the Garden where Garcia lost the middleweight crown to Ken Overlin on points in 1940. A memorable Garcia fight at the Garden was his defeat to Henry Armstrong on a 15-round decision for the world welterweight diadem in 1938.
Not too many fans know that Manny Pacquiao?s brother Bobby and former WBC lightflyweight champion Rodel Mayol also fought at the Garden. Bobby knocked out Kevin Kelley in four rounds in 2006 and lost to Humberto Soto on a seventh round stoppage a year later. Mayol and Puerto Rico?s Ivan Calderon battled to a sixth round technical draw in a WBO lightflyweight championship bout at the Garden in 2009.
Curiously, the world?s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter has never performed at the Garden. Pacquiao has displayed his wares in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Dallas and San Antonio but never in New York. Pacquiao was in New York for his celebrated trial to break out of his contract with Murad Muhammad in 2005 and only last month, visited the Big Apple in the course of a world press tour for his third encounter with Juan Manuel Marquez. He was also in New York to promote his fights against Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito and receive awards from the Boxing Writers Association of America.
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Now, it?s Nonito Donaire?s turn to show up at the Garden. This morning (Manila time), he defends his WBC and WBO bantamweight crowns against unbeaten Omar Narvaez of Argentina at the 5,600-seat Theater, an auditorium in the Madison Square Garden complex. The Theater used to be called the Felt Forum, the Paramount and the WaMu (for Washington Mutual Bank) Theater. It was inaugurated in 1968 and dubbed simply as The Theater after WaMu yielded its naming rights in 2009.
The Theater has been the site of the NBA draft since 2001 and often hosts family shows, theatricals, religious conventions, graduations, stockholders meetings and political gatherings. For the Donaire-Narvaez fight, tickets were priced in the range of $25 to $200.
The Garden was closed for renovations after the New York Knicks were swept by the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs last April. The Donaire-Narvaez fight is the first Garden event since the completion of the renovations. The next big fight at the Garden is the Cotto-Margarito rematch on Dec. 3.
?It?s a great honor to be part of it (the Garden history),? said Donaire. ?It?s where the oldtimers fought ? all bloodied up, they had tremendous heart, they never gave up, like these guys were crazy. It?s my first time in New York. How great it is to be part of this. I?m thankful for this opportunity and blessing to showcase my boxing skills to the Filipino community in New York, New Jersey and the East Coast, the Latinos and the Puerto Ricans.?
How Donaire will be remembered in his Garden debut depends on his performance against Narvaez. It could be a defining moment in his storybook career. Narvaez isn?t Donaire?s first undefeated opponent. In 2007, Donaire faced unbeatean Vic Darchinyan and knocked him out in five rounds to wrest the IBF/IBO flyweight crowns. And in 2009, he retained both titles on a fourth round disposal of previously undefeated Raul Martinez.
Donaire is out to make a strong statement and his trainer Robert Garcia guaranteed that the Filipino Flash will be explosive in pinning the first loss on the Argentinian?s record.
