FLASH ELORDE tried to win it on two occasions. Bert Somodio, Andy Ganigan and Dindo Canoy also had their chances.
Add the name of Randy Suico to the growing list.
Suico was badly beaten by Mexican-American Juan Diaz yesterday in Las Vegas to frustrate the Philippines for the sixth time in world lightweight title matches.
While the Philippines has made it big in the super-featherweight class of 130 lbs with the likes of Elorde, Ben Villaflor and Rolando Navarrette winning championships in the fabled weight division, that’s not the case in the 135-lb ranks where Elorde suffered two devastating losses to Carlos Ortiz in 1964 and 1966.
Somodio also received an opportunity to shoot for the title but was denied by Joe Brown in 1961, while Ganigan almost pulled it off when ranged against Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello in 1982 and Canoy was clearly outhustled by Russian Orzubek Nazarov in 1995.
Suico was given a fair chance of unseating the rugged Diaz since he is taller than his rival at 5-9 and is said to be the heavier puncher between the two.
But power was not adequate to win a major title and Diaz proved that by showcasing his vaunted skills en route to a mercy stoppage win in the 9th round.
Elorde was unbeatable in the 130-lb division during the 1960s but when he tried his luck to conquer the lightweight title, he got stopped in the 14th round in each fight by the Puerto Rican.
Ganigan had decked Arguello in the first round but the Honolulu-bred slugger ran out of gas and was knocked out in the fifth round.
Canoy, like Suico, was a brave puncher but against Nazarov, who like Diaz is highly-skilled, sheer power was insufficient.
