Requiem for a champ - SPORTING CHANCE by Joaquin M. Henson

I learned about Larry Flaviano’s death only the other day and regret that I didn’t pay my last respects to the former two-time Oriental boxing champion who passed away due to heart failure from a severe asthma attack in Labayug, Sison, Pangasinan, last March 9.

As a boy, I followed Flaviano’s ring career. He was a handsome, dashing fighter who took on some of the best in the business. Flaviano faced world champions Yoshiaki Numata, Rene Barrientos, Paul Fuji, Miguel Velasquez and Sandro Lopopolo in a career that logged over 120 bouts in 18 years.

In 1993, I visited Flaviano in his home near the Northern Cement plant in Sison. He introduced me to his wife Sinforosa Villanueva whom he married in 1968. "Siya ang may utak sa ming dalawa," chuckled Flaviano, a Holy Angel Academy high school graduate. Flaviano used his ring earnings to send his wife to school. She became a rural health midwife.

Flaviano had put on about 30 pounds from when he fought. His black hair had turned silver and was neatly combed back. He said he kept fit by jogging around his modest bungalow. You wouldn’t think he was once a fighter. There were no tell-tale scars around his eyes. His nose was unbroken. And he spoke clearly.

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The Flavianos were blessed with three children - Larry, Jr., 32; Nena Fe, 31; and Napoleon, 28. Larry, Jr.’s biological father was an American air force officer, Walter Holland. When the Flavianos got married, they adopted the Fil-American mestizo as their son.

Flaviano never smoked nor drank. He lived a clean life. From his boxing purses, he opened a grocery and soda fountain, bought a passenger jeepney, and built a house in Mabalacat. He also built a house for his parents in Aklan, where he was born, and later a house in Sison.

For a while, Flaviano worked in the staff of the late Pampanga Gov. Francisco Nepomuceno and drove an ambulance for the Christ the King Hospital to augment his income. In 1973, he joined Northern Cement as a security guard and transplanted to Sison after living 11 years in Angeles City. Despite a full-time job, he continued to fight until retiring after losing to Dan De Guzman in Cabanatuan a year later. In 1981, Flaviano was named Northern’s Most Outstanding Employee – an honor he always cherished.

In his heyday, Flaviano used to pack arenas all over the country – in Manila, Cebu, Iligan, Bacolod, Aurora, Davao City, Dagupan, Naga, Iloilo, Concepcion, and many more. He saw action in Kyoto, Tokyo, Sapporo, Seoul, Bangkok, Guam, Madrid and Milan. Flaviano earned good money as a pro and invested wisely. His purse was a cool $400 when he stopped Yukio Katsumata to wrest the Oriental junior lightweight crown in Tokyo in 1964. In his first defense against Numata a year later, Flaviano was paid the equivalent of P5,000 – enough to send a brother to school and buy a jeepney to start a business. He was once rated the world’s No. 3 junior lightweight and No. 6 junior welterweight contender.

In 1968, Flaviano decisioned Thai Supornchai Charernmuang to claim the Oriental junior welterweight diadem in Bangkok. That same year, he beat Rockey Alarde for the Philippine 140-pound title.

Known for his durability and ring smarts, Flaviano survived two trips to the canvas to outpoint Yuji Tsukuban in Kyoto in 1964. The next year, he was also floored twice but came roaring back to almost halt Suh Kang Il in Seoul only to lose on points.

Throughout his pro career, Flaviano was never seriously hurt. The worst beating he absorbed was when Barrientos stopped him in the seventh round at the Araneta Coliseum in 1965. Flaviano wound up with a deep cut on his right cheek.

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During our conversation, Flaviano confessed that he took a dive – to survive, not for money – in a fight against Fuji, a rugged Hawaiian of Japanese descent, in 1966. After a fierce exchange in the first round, Flaviano realized Fuji could decapitate a human being with a single blow – he was that strong. Rather than risk serious injury, Flaviano fell from a glancing haymaker and took the full count in the second stanza. He lived to fight another day. Courage, he explained, is not measured by a lack of intelligence.

A devoted family man, Flaviano said he walked the straight path to set an example for his children. "Kung ano ang awa ko, ‘yun din ang dapat gawin ng aking mga anak," he said. "Kaya wala akong bisyo, hindi ako mahilig sa barkadahan at alaga ko ang aking katawan."

At 17, Flaviano turned pro under Erbing Jardenil’s wing in Iloilo in 1956. Three years later, he moved to Manila where Tondo businessman Marcelino Baruado became his manager. Flaviano trained at the Besa Boxing Arena and slowly moved up the ranks. His father Blas’ cousin Oming Castusiano later took over from Baruado as manager and relocated the fighter to Angeles City. Promoter Tony Esguerra then bought Flaviano’s rights from Castusiano for P2,000.

Flaviano lived to be 61. He retired from Northern in 1999 after 27 years of service. In Labayug, he was a Barangay Kagawad for four years.

"He was a great man," said his widow. "He was a great fighter and a great family man. He will always be the hero of our family."