Final bell for Toti, maker of boxing champs

It was around 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve when boxing trainer Rolando (Toti) Sangalang, known in fistic circles as "The Maker of Champions," motioned to his wife Florencia and son Rolando, Jr. to stand by his bedside in their Imus, Cavite home.

Toti, bedridden for a month, looked sad – like he knew the end was near. Since he was diagnosed to be suffering from throat cancer two years ago, Toti fought courageously. Last March, he underwent a major operation to remove his voice box and esophagus. He communicated with a pencil and paper then when he lost the drive to write, used hand gestures.

Rolando, Jr., or Sonny – Toti’s only son who is involved in boxing – saw his father wave goodbye. Toti’s eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep. At 3:15 the next morning, Toti was gone.

Toti fought a good fight. At the peak of his treatment, his weight plummeted from 118 to 94 pounds. The treatment included over 35 cobalt doses and three months in the hospital. Doctors bore a hole in his neck and he ate only blended food through a tube inserted into his stomach. His medicine expenses went beyond P300,000. San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo (Danding) Cojuangco was Toti’s biggest silent benefactor.

Last May – two months after his surgery, Toti went to watch the Gerry Peñalosa-Pone Saengmorakot fight at the Casino Filipino on lawyer Rudy Salud’s invitation. It was the last bout he attended. Sonny said as cancer ravaged his father’s body, Toti suffered quietly. Toti never complained but Sonny noticed that he had lost interest reading the sports pages in newspapers and watching fights on TV.

Toti was 66 when the final bell rang. He is survived by wife Florencia, a public school teacher, four children — Edgardo, 31, Sonny, 30, Florence, 27, and Ian, 23 — and two grandchildren, Amina, 6, and Mariella, 2.

Toti was once a flyweight fighter. He compiled a 29-5 record then decided to train boxers, instead of fight them, in 1959. He’s handled hundreds of pros and made world champions out of Erbito Salavarria, Luisito Espinosa, and Morris East. From earning 10 percent of his fighter’s purses, Toti was able to buy a 400-square-meter house and a lot in Imus and an owner-type jeep. His last champion was Raffy Montalban who reigned as Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight titlist until his retirement last year.

Boxing wasn’t only a livelihood for Toti. It was his life. He proudly pointed out that he sent all his children to school through boxing. Edgardo studies computer science and lives in Yokohama with his wife and daughter. Sonny took up electronics and communications engineering at Lyceum and trains eight fighters. Florence graduated at Imus Institute and works for an appliance company. Ian earned a management degree at La Salle Dasmariñas and is employed at San Miguel Corp.

The fight game took Toti all over the world – to Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Thailand, Korea, and Japan. During his travels, Toti met the world’s best fighters and trainers. He singled out the Kronk gym’s Emanuel Steward as the best trainer and Sugar Ray Robinson the best fighter of all time. Flash Elorde was his choice as the best Filipino boxer ever.

Toti will always be remembered as the gravel-voiced boxing expert with a keen eye for talent and a knack for developing champions.