Gabriel "Flash" Elorde

Today, January 2 marks the death anniversary of the late Gabriel "Flash" Elorde. Now, I don't know a lot about Elorde because his career ended before I was born. However, I have heard a lot about him from Filipino and international boxing writers and analysts. He is also regarded by most as the greatest Filipino boxer of all-time.

Here is an article written in tribute of this great Pinoy boxing legend:

REMEMBERING 'FLASH' ELORDE by Ronnie Nathanielsz

Gabriel "Flash" Elorde was the youngest in a family of sixteen, born into a poor farmer’s home in the town of Bogo. His poverty served not as a burden but as a challenge.

Elorde walked off the streets of Cebu where he worked as a pier hand, a dishwasher on an inter-island cargo boat and a pinboy in a bowling alley to punch his way to the world junior lightweight crown, in the process winning international acclaim and the hearts of millions of his countrymen.

The Philippines has been blessed with a long line of remarkable champions from Pancho Villa to Ceferino Garcia and in more recent times the incredible Manny Pacquiao. But in the fascinating history of boxing, Gabriel "Flash" Elorde stands out as the greatest of all time, not merely for his incredible skill and raw courage but even more so for the exemplary human qualities that shone like a beacon among the heroes of our time.

One of the greatest fighters to ever come out of the Asia-Pacific region, Elorde was born on March 25, 1935 and turned professional when he was barely 16.

An excellent boxer, the famed southpaw became an oriental champion at all weights - from bantamweight to lightweight.
In an active career Elorde had 44 title fights, 15 for world titles, and was involved in at least one every year from 1952 to 1967.
Read the rest of this article at Philboxing.com

Elorde also has a great record and fought great fighters like Sandy Saddler. You can personally check his fight record People say that he was a great man inside and outside the ring. he also had the same electrifying and unifying effect as Philippine boxing icon, Manny Pacquiao.

I hope that we will have more boxing greats like Pacquiao and Elorde in the future. Boxing is currently enjoying a "golden age" as we have four world champions and an elite boxing icon. We should use this time to develop our country's boxing program so that we will have more boxing greats in the future. Let me end this post with a picture of Elorde in action against fellow Hall of Famer, Sandy Saddler.