Samurai blinds Gustilo’s eye

Loreto (Noning) Buhat was born in Iloilo City on Dec. 24, 1920. He finished only up to Grade 3 and did odd jobs until a boxing promoter Roman Gustilo introduced him to the fight game at an early age.

Buhat was a natural in the ring. He adopted the ring sobriquet Baby Gustilo and became the top attraction in smokers in the South. Fred Sanz, a fight enthusiast, recalled watching Gustilo. "He was a crowd favorite, very famous," said Sanz. "He moved like (Flash) Elorde. He wasn’t a knockout artist but he could punch." Boxing judge Alex Villacampa, 84, also remembered Gustilo. "He was a counterpuncher," noted Villacampa. "He wasn’t a big puncher - he was more of a boxer."

In 1940, Gustilo went to Japan to fight. He left behind his pregnant wife Jovita Abagatnan of Roxas City. World War II broke out when Gustilo was in Japan. He was stranded. But Gustilo never thought of returning to the Philippines. He continued to box even while the world was at war.

Gustilo married a Japanese girl who bore two sons. A few years ago, he was asked by a Japanese writer why he stayed in Japan. "Though Japan went into war in the Philippines, I could not go back," Gustilo said. "I had a wife and children in Japan. If I go back to the Philippines, I might not get a reentry permit to return to Japan."

Gustilo broke contact with his family in the Philippines. He didn’t even know his wife Jovita gave birth to a son, Reynaldo.

After the war, Gustilo pursued his boxing career. In 1947, he won the Japanese featherweight title which he held for three years. Gustilo was the toast of Japanese boxing and compiled streaks of 21 and 28 straight wins.

"He was called the ‘god of boxing’," said Japan Boxing Magazine. "The places where he fought were always filled to capacity. He struck with a tickle jab from his unique style then swung with his left arm. He warded off his opponent’s attacks with a very flexible body. He had a remarkable high level of technique. Piston Horiguchi was Baby’s bitter rival. Hiroguchi did not stop attacking and never retreated. When they fought in Nishimuya, there was a large crowd. Baby beat Hiroguchi twice in a row."

Gustilo never fought for a world title and retired in 1950 with a record of 77-15-5, with 17 KOs.

After he hung up his gloves, Gustilo was employed as a bodyguard by a suspected Japanese yakuza lord involved in illegal gambling. He lost his right eye to a samurai warrior during an altercation in the course of his work.

"He was severely wounded by a Japanese sword in the Black World as well as found guilty in an injury case on a drunken impulse," wrote Japan Boxing Magazine. "It may be the cause why he cut himself off not only from boxing but also from the outside world and just led a simple, quiet life. His wife and children left him when he had trouble with the law."

In 1973, a Boy Scouts World Jamboree was held at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños campus and Reynaldo — who worked in the school’s physical education department — was assigned to take care of the Japanese delegation. Reynaldo befriended the delegation head Mike Kubata and related his tale of woe — he had never seen his father who, he said, was somewhere in Japan. Kubata assured Reynaldo that as soon as he got back to Japan, he would look for his father.

Within two weeks, Kubata found Gustilo in Osaka and arranged for Reynaldo to meet his father. Kubata paid for Reynaldo’s two-week stay in Japan.

Reynaldo said he was mobbed by Japanese writers when he arrived in Japan. Only then did he realize how popular his father was as a prizefighter. His father took him around Osaka and Tokyo.

"Respetado ang Papa ko sa Japan," he said. "Kung kumain kami sa restaurant, walang bayad. Noong binili niya ako ng maleta, hindi siya pinagbayad. Maliit lang ang kanyang tirahan — sa upper floor ng isang sugalan. Hiwalay na siya sa kanyang asawang Hapon at mga anak noong nagkita kami."

Reynaldo encouraged his father to return home but Gustilo said there was nothing for him in the Philippines. He was comfortable in Japan. But he promised someday, to go back. After their sentimental reunion, father and son never saw each other again.

Reynaldo, who never finished high school, got married in 1961 and his wife Myrna bore nine children. He began working in Saudi Arabia in 1978 as a lifeguard for Aramco. Reynaldo now works at King Fahad’s palace in Taif as a water treatment operator. He earns $380 a month. He said when he retires at the end of the year, he will get a bonus of about $2,000. Three of his children are also working in Saudi and a daughter, Bambi, lives in Yamagata, Japan.

Reynaldo is not a rich man. He has labored away from his family on foreign soil for over 20 years and his monthly paycheck is less than P20,000. But he works hard and makes an honest living.

Reynaldo made a special trip back here when he found out his father’s ashes were delivered by a Japanese journalist to a priest in Iloilo City. He retrieved the silver box containing the cremated remains and brought it to his mother — Gustilo’s widow — in Angono.

"Natupad na rin ng aking ama yung kanyang sinabi sa akin — na balang-araw, uuwi rin siya," said Reynaldo, his eyes tearing.