History of boxing in the Philippines
The history of boxing in the Philippines is the history of boxing and the evolution and progress of the sport in the Philippines. In the Philippines, boxing is considered one of its most popular sports together with basketball due to the many accolades it has brought to the country, having produced 45 major world champions (including those of Filipino heritage), one of the most in the world. Despite not having won a gold medal in boxing, the Philippines has had multiple Olympic standouts, with 8 out of its 12 total Olympic medals coming from  boxing, along with some of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. Filipino greats like Pancho Villa, Flash Elorde and Ceferino Garcia are members of the two highly respected boxing hall of fames - International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) and World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF) thus, giving the Philippines the most number of boxing hall of fame members out of Asia. Golden ages of Philippine boxing. Before the Spaniards and Americans came to the Philippines, Filipinos had their own kind of boxing known as "suntukan", which means "bare-hand fighting" in Tagalog, generally believed to have evolved  from a Filipino knife fighting technique called "kali". During the Spanish colonization, such martial arts and kinds of fighting were banned, so it was driven in the undergrounds where the deprivation of knives and rattan sticks lead to fist fighting. First golden age of Philippine boxing. The evolution of Philippine boxing was thought to be after the Spanish–American War, where Spain ceded its colonial territories, namely Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States as agreed in the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Some reports told that American soldiers brought the modern boxing in the Philippines where evidences  of a pair boxing gloves were made by Sol Levinson of San Francisco and another story telling that a renegade soldier brought some boxing gloves to Filipino prisoners and taught them how to use it. However, it was generally believed that three Americans were responsible for the evolution of boxing in the country namely: Frank Churchill and the Tait brothers (Eddie and Stewart) Eddie and Stewart Tait, also dubbed as "Barnums of Borneo", were amusement park entrepreneurs who established carnivals and horse racing tracks in Manila, who arrived in the country in 1902. Eddie, believed to be a boxing enthusiast , wanted to attract crowds by teaching Filipino locals some western boxing lessons for free to create American-style Filipino boxers. In 1921, boxing was legalized in the Philippines and began to flourish. Frank Churchill joined by the Tait brothers, established the Olympic Boxing Club in Manila. During this time, the country saw the first batch of great Filipino fighters such as Dencio Cabanela, Speedy Dado, the Flores brothers (Francisco, Elino, Macario and Ireneo), Pete Sarmiento, Sylvino Jamito, Macario Villon and the legendary Pancho Villa. The first golden age of Philippine boxing emerge as Pancho Villa won the universal world flyweight  championship from Welshman Jimmy Wilde to become the first ever Asian and Filipino world champion. Villa defended his title three times including a fight in the Philippines with fellow Filipino Clever Sencio where he won by fifteen-round decision, which at the time, nobody thought it would be the last victory of his young career. The glorious era was short-lived following the ring deaths of popular fighters Dencio Cabanela and Clever Sencio along with the death of Pancho Villa from Ludwig's angina and their influential promoter Frank Churchill. There was also the Filipino-Spanish boxer, Luis Logan, who  at one time or another held the title Oriental welterweight and heavyweight champion. Logan's boxing career spanned 1925–1940; and spent half his boxing career in Spain, Argentina, outside of the Philippines. On October 2, 1939, a sudden uplift came when Ceferino Garcia won the NYSAC world middleweight championship from American Fred Apostoli at the Madison Square Garden, New York, United States. On December 23, 1939, Garcia successfully defended his title for the first time against American Glen Lee in front of his countrymen inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex which was the first world title bout ever recorded in  the Philippine islands. Garcia also competed with some of the best boxers ever like Barney Ross and Henry Armstrong, to whom he denied his fourth title in four weight divisions through a draw. However, he then lost at the hands of Ken Overlin, unable to land his famous bolo punch and losing the title. Second golden age of Philippine boxing. On July 20, 1955, Filipino boxing fans saw the birth of Philippine boxing's second golden era as a Cebuano boxer named Gabriel "Flash" Elorde beat the then reigning world featherweight champion and later Hall of Famer Sandy Saddler in  a non-title bout at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. Elorde went on to win the world super featherweight championship from Harold Gomes by a seventh-round knockout on March 16, 1960. Elorde kept his world title inside a division record of 7 years and 2 months with 10 successful defenses, including a one-round knockout of Gomes in a rematch. Flash Elorde, during his time, was one of the busiest fighters who traveled to fight very often. A great and fearless fighter, Elorde was one of the most beloved Filipino athletes since Pancho Villa. In this Elorde inspired period , twenty world champions were created spanning from Roberto Cruz to Gerry Peñalosa along with the formation of the "Big Four of Professional Boxing" or the major sanctioning bodies, namely the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. However, as time goes by, boxing was becoming less popular in the country because of many alternative sports including basketball until Manny Pacquiao came. Third golden age of Philippine boxing (present). A Filipino boxer named Manny Pacquiao was an entertaining star in the local boxing television show called "Blow-by-Blow" by the famed Filipino manager and promoter Rod Nazario. Viewers became accustomed to Pacquiao 's name not only because of his aggressive style but also due to his unique looks and catchy surname. Pacquiao's ascendancy heralded a new wave of Filipino boxers and marks the third great era of Philippine boxing. On December 4, 1998, Pacquiao upset Thai Champion Chatchai Sasakul in Thailand to win the Lineal and WBC flyweight championship (his first world title). On his title defense, Pacquiao lost his title on the scale and was knocked out in the fight by Medgoen Singsurat of Thailand. Pacquiao lost his WBC title on the scales as he was unable to make the  flyweight limit. Pacquiao gained weight and skipped the super flyweight and bantamweight divisions to fight at super bantamweight division. Pacquiao, for the second time in his career, was the heavy underdog against South African Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, the reigning IBF super bantamweight champion. On June 23, 2001, Pacquiao dethroned Ledwaba to win his second world title in two different weight divisions. In 2003, Pacquiao's career rose to its peak as he stopped the then reigning Lineal and "The Ring" featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico via 11th-round technical knockout. Since that time, Pacquiao has acquired three lineal titles  and four major (WBC & IBF) world titles along six different divisions--flyweight (112 lbs.), super bantamweight (122 lbs.), featherweight (126 lbs.), super featherweight (130 lbs.), lightweight (135 lbs.) and light welterweight (140 lbs.). On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao surpassed Oscar De La Hoya's record of six-division titles by stopping WBO welterweight champion Miguel Angel Cotto to win his seventh title across seven divisions. One year later, he made history by being the first boxer ever to win eight world titles in eight weight divisions as he dominated Mexican slugger Antonio Margarito to win the vacant WBC light middleweight  title. Since 2003, Pacquiao amassed a record of 21 wins, 3 defeats and 1 draw in his last 25 fights. The Filipino fighter defeated some of the best opposition available on the way to superstardom (earning the nickname "the Mexicutioner") including Mexicans Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Márquez and Antonio Margarito, British Ricky Hatton, Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, and Americans Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Timothy Bradley. The "Pacquiao Wave" regenerated boxing in the Philippines, inspiring a new generation of boxers to aim ever higher. Nonito Donaire, one of the Pacquiao-wave fighters, became the second  Asian to win four world titles in four weight divisions by defeating South African Simpiwe Vetyeka to claim the WBA featherweight title on May 31, 2014. In 2017, Donnie Nietes became the third Filipino boxer to win world titles in three different weight divisions when he defeated Thailand's Komgrich Nantapech in May 2017. In Dec. 31 2018, Donnie Nietes became the third Filipino boxer and third Asian to win world titles in Four different weight divisions when he defeated Japanese Kazuto Ioka via split decision on New Year's Eve, winning the vacant World Boxing Organization belt at the  Wynn Palace in Macau. Philippines' contribution to boxing. The Philippines is one of the founding member nations of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF). Filipino boxers also contributed to the history of boxing from rules and techniques to records and achievements. Pancho Villa is not only the first Asian and Filipino world champion but is also described as one of the cleanest boxers before the proper rules were established. Ceferino Garcia is credited as the inventor of the "bolo punch". However, according to "Tahoma News-Tribune", a fellow Filipino boxer named Macario Flores was  reportedly using it. Gabriel "Flash" Elorde still holds the record for longest reign in the super featherweight or junior lightweight (130 lbs.) division - 7 years, 2 months and 29 days with 10 title defenses. His success was due to his innovative footwork and maneuvers which he learned from training Balintawak Eskrima with his father "Tatang" Elorde who was the Eskrima champion of Cebu. Elorde's style from eskrima has been adopted by many boxers, including his friend Muhammad Ali, which influenced the out-boxer style of boxing. While Donnie Nietes holds as the longest Filipino world champion in the light  flyweight division. On November 13, 2010, Manny Pacquiao entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first ever boxer to win eight world titles in eight (8) different divisions (see also Octuple Champion) by defeating Mexican Antonio Margarito via 12-round unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBC light middleweight championship. Philippines' popular ring officials. The Philippines has produced respected ring officials. Referee Carlos "Sonny" Padilla officiated the famous "Thrilla in Manila" match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975. He worked as third man in the ring in many big matches for over 25 years. In  2012, the World Boxing Council awarded Rey Danseco the Judge of the Year. He received the accolade in a rite held during the 50th Annual WBC Convention at the Grand Oasis Hotel in Cancun, Mexico. To date, Danseco is the only Asian boxing ring official to win an award of such magnitude. He is also a multiple Judge of the Year awardee in the Philippines until he moved to the US in 2012. Danseco judged the world championship fights of some big names in boxing of his generation, such as Canelo Alvarez, Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, Robert Guerrero, Julio  César Chávez, Bernard Hopkins, Austin Trout, Gerry Penalosa, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Badou Jack, Jorge Arce, Jhonny González, Adonis Stevenson, Tony Bellew, Josh Taylor, Toshiaki Nishioka, Shawn Porter, Edgar Sosa, Miguel Berchelt, Leo Santa Cruz, Abner Mares, Amir Khan, Daniel Dubois, Jamel Herring, Jessica McCaskill, Regis Prograis, and Khalid Yafai. Padilla refereed or judged the fights of notable world champions, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Alexis Arguello, Erbito Salavarria, Leon Spinks, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard, Lupe Pintor, Roberto Durán, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Durán, Bobby Chacon, Pipino Cuevas, Julio César Chávez, Michael Spinks, Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer, George Foreman, Azumah  Nelson, Riddick Bowe, Terry Norris, Ray Mercer, Iran Barkley, Humberto Gonzalez, Roger Mayweather, Kennedy McKinney, Johnny Tapia, Marco Antonio Barrera, Antonio Tarver, and Filipino greats Manny Pacquiao, Dodie Boy Penalosa, Erbito Salavarria, Ben Villaflor, and Rolando Navarette in his career from 1967 until his retirement in year 2000. List of men's professional boxing world champions. The following is a list of filipino boxing champions who have held titles from one or more of the "Big Four" organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) and "The Ring. In December 2000, the WBA created an unprecedented situation of having a split championship in  the same weight class by introducing a new title called "Super world", commonly referred to simply as "Super". The "Super" champion is highly regarded as the WBA's primary champion, while the "World" champion – commonly known as the "Regular" champion by boxing publications – is only considered the primary champion by the other three major sanctioning bodies (WBC, IBF, and WBO) if the "Super" title is vacant. A "Unified" champion is a boxer that holds the "Regular" title and a world title from another major sanctioning body (WBC, IBF, WBO) simultaneously. An "Undisputed" champion as defined by the WBA, only needs  to hold three of the four major titles but in some cases they may change a "Super" champion into an "Undisputed" champion after a failed title defense (e.g. Anselmo Moreno losing to Juan Payano and Chris John losing to Simpiwe Vetyeka). This is not to be confused by professional boxing's own definition of an undisputed champion, in which a boxer must hold all four major titles. Other former international/national-world boxing commissions and organizations from the beginning of boxing are also included here: Note List of women's professional boxing world champions. The following is a list of  filipina boxing champions who have held titles from one or more of the "Big Four" organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) and "The Ring.