Barrientos, 59, was recently in town to attend the first Gabriel (Flash) Elorde Boxing Awards Night at the Manila Hotel. He flew in from Cagayan de Oro where he has lived since joining the late Dr. Antonio Almirante’s stable in 1964.
It was Barrientos’ good fortune to be managed by Almirante whose niece Nina Cerna he married over 30 years ago. It was the same good fortune that Barrientos’ idol Elorde had in marrying his manager Lope (Papa) Sarreal’s daughter Laura.
Born to a poor farmer’s family in Balite, Aklan, Barrientos — the fourth of 10 children — was only nine when his father died. He dropped out of fourth grade in elementary school and worked as a houseboy to help his mother put food on the table. Eventually, the family moved to Polomolok.
Barrientos was in and out of school. At 15, he worked in a logging company where he was often confronted by big bullies. In impromptu fistfights, no one could beat Barrientos. He made it a habit to trounce the toughest roughhousers, until finally, a friend, Ulysses Miralles, convinced him to fight in weekend smokers in General Santos City. Barrientos was paid P10 for his first bout and hardly raised a sweat in knocking out Joe Reyes in less than two minutes.
Within two years of turning pro, Barrientos faced Elorde
for the Oriental lightweight crown in Cebu in 1965. Elorde, eight years older, carved out a unanimous 12-round decision then predicted Barrientos would someday become a world champion.
Barrientos says Elorde inspired him to take up boxing. He watched Elorde poleaxe Harold Gomes for the world title in the movies in 1960 and was determined to follow in his footsteps. In the 1960s, big fights were often shown in theaters.
Barrientos considers his fight against Elorde the most memorable in his career — more memorable than when he won the world 130-pound title on a decision over Ruben Navarro at the Araneta Coliseum in 1969.
Barrientos was a victim of more hometown decisions in Japan. He claims he was robbed, too, when he lost the world title to Yoshiaki Numata on points in his first defense in Tokyo in 1970.
An elusive target, Barrientos was difficult to hit because of his nifty footwork and almost impregnable defense. He was stopped only once–in Honolulu in 1969 by Adolph Pruitt on cuts — and was never floored.
Barrientos was a crowd pleaser wherever he saw action — in Caracas, Panama, Honolulu, Chiba, and Tokyo. He never backed down from a challenge. Once, in 1966, he took on three opponents in successive three-rounders and beat them all — Ric Penalosa, Baby Paramount, and Ely Yares. In 1967, he traveled to Caracas to humble the Venezuelan champion Francisco Bolivar. His other victims included Carl Penalosa, Eduardo Espinosa of Ecuador, and former world champion Guts Ishimatsu.
Barrientos says he was never threatened nor intimidated in the ring. He points to Young Terror, whom he beat twice, as the hardest puncher he ever met and Ghanaian Love Allotey as the dirtiest. Barrientos outpointed Allotey in 1965.
In 1973, he quit the ring because of a fracture in his left hand. Barrientos came back from a five-year hiatus to win two fights in 1978 then decided to retire for good. His final record was 49-7-2, with 24 KOs.
From his purses, Barrientos built a four-unit apartment building on a 2,000-square meter property in Cagayan de Oro and bought farmlands in Marbel. And he sent his five children to school. Today, they’re all professionals — Rene William, 30, is a medical technologist, Rene Leif, 28, a commerce graduate, Rene Jed, a marine engineer, Rene Troy, 24, a nurse, and Candy, 22, also a nurse. His wife is also a nurse at the city’s Department of Health office.
Barrientos says he’d like to revive the "Boxing at the Park" series he used to promote in Cagayan de Oro. His dream is to discover the first Filipino Olympic gold medallist in boxing. He says that dream will come true someday but without a Cuban coach. Barrientos says a Filipino trainer can do better than a Cuban.
In Cagayan de Oro, Barrientos says boxing is plagued by lack of facilities. There are no decent gyms and respectable stadium to attract fans. The Gold City Coliseum is dilapidated, he notes.
Among active fighters, Barrientos singles out Gerry Peñalosa as his favorite because he fights like he used to. Peñalosa, he says, has the power, handspeed, footwork, brains of a world champion.
Barrientos says he’s sick and tired of so-called experts describing fighters as uneducated and dumb. "Hindi naman kaming lahat stupido," he asserts. Before lacing up the gloves, Barrientos thought of becoming a lawyer. He never gave up schooling although he was an irregular student who made it up to third year in college. Barrientos tried boxing and going to school at the same time but stopped when he was constantly scolded by teachers for sleeping in the classroom.
To keep busy, Barrientos dabbles in real estate and collects rentals from his apartment units and the gasoline station he leases out. He’s content with how his life turned out. He dotes on his four grandchildren and regales anyone who cares to listen with tales of his glorious reign as world champion.