Last month, QTV 11 aired a show entitled “Ang Pinaka Astig Na Pinoy Boxers” hosted by Pia Guanio whose brother Joey, by the way, is a former PBA cager and now works closely with Commissioner Chino Trinidad in the PBL.
Pia announced the results of a survey where some kind of a “weighted” average was used as a formula to determine the top 10 rankings of the greatest Filipino fighters ever. The identified survey respondents were Trinidad, Ed Picson, Ed Tolentino, Jun Sarreal, Ronnie Nathanielsz and this writer.
How the survey tabulators used a “weighted” average is a mystery because in the final results, the list showed a mix of amateur and professional fighters. That’s like throwing apples and oranges into a barrel.
In my case, I was asked by the survey team to separately rank my top 12 professional fighters and top five amateurs. This was my list – (in order) Manny Pacquiao, Flash Elorde, Pancho Villa, Luisito Espinosa, Dodie Boy Pe?alosa, Ben Villaflor, Ceferino Garcia, Erbito Salavarria, Gerry Pe?alosa, Rolando Navarrete, Rolando Pascua and Rolando Bohol for the pros and Anthony Villanueva, Onyok Velasco, Roel Velasco, Leopoldo Serrantes and Jose Villanueva for the amateurs.
Picson said he was contacted in between swings on the golf course and never made a ranking. Instead, he gave comments on fighters whose names were flashed at random for TV sound-bites.
Tolentino said he was furnished a combined list of professional and amateur fighters and ranked them from 1 to 12. His No. 1 was Villa with Elorde, Espinosa and Pacquiao next in line. Others in his list were Anthony Villanueva, Garcia, Navarrete and the Pe?alosa brothers.
Tolentino said he found it strange that the list mixed up professionals and amateurs. Anyway, he inserted Villanueva as the only amateur in his top 12 because what he did in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, “broke the barrier between pros and amateurs.” Villanueva was robbed of a gold medal by a biased jury on a 3-2 split decision and settled for the silver in the featherweight division. Villanueva, incidentally, went on to turn pro and had a forgettable career in the pay circuit.
Trinidad said he rated professionals apart from the amateurs as they should be. His top three pros were Elorde, Villa and Pacquiao, qualifying that it was a ranking based on today’s circumstances.
“Four years from now, depending on how much more Manny is able to achieve, he could be No. 1 in my list,” explained Trinidad. “But at the moment, because of Elorde’s seven-year reign as world junior lightweight champion, his well-rounded accomplishments and his being a champion off the ring, he would be my No. 1.”
In Trinidad’s amateur list, he ranked Anthony Villanueva, Onyok and Roel in that order.
QTV 11’s survey results showed this top 10 ranking – (in order) Elorde, 65 points, Villa, 63, Anthony Villanueva, 56, Espinosa, 48, Onyok, 43, Pacquiao, 39, Dodie Boy, 34, Salavarria, 33, Navarrete, 25 and Gerry, 19.
I question the validity of the results. First of all, the method of collating the rankings from respondents was not consistent so how could the results reflect a “weighted” picture? Secondly, it was not made clear to the respondents – at least, most of them – how a point system would be used and that the final list would combine pros and amateurs. And thirdly, there were no distinct criteria to rank the fighters – the respondents used their own pegs on a free-for-all basis.
For the record, I disavow any association from such a survey that is potentially manipulative and appears to have a hidden agenda. Were the standings “arranged” to downgrade Pacquiao to No. 6 in the all-time rankings? How could anyone in his right mind consider Anthony Villanueva or Onyok Velasco a greater fighter than Pacquiao?
There is no other Filipino fighter in history who has accomplished more than Pacquiao – in terms of world recognition, purse earnings, national attention and titles won. Not even Elorde gained the admiration of a global audience in his era. But the standards of comparison vary from person to person. Unfortunately, QTV 11’s survey had no standards on which to form an intelligent basis for a ranking of the greatest Filipino fighters in history.
