Rapping with Taby

Since I don’t play golf and know little about the sport, running into Taby Tabaniag is a remote possibility for me.

Taby was once a fixture in boxing circles. He teamed with Joe Cantada in hosting "Fistorama" on TV for over 25 years. And he was the late Flash Elorde’s publicist during his reign as world junior lightweight champion. But when Elorde died and "Fistorama" made its curtain call, Taby left boxing for golf. He’s never looked back.

Today, Taby has little time for any sport except golf. He’s the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) Rules Committee head. Taby writes a column, exclusively on golf, thrice a week for the Manila Standard and constantly tours the country conducting rules seminars. Taby still keeps track of what’s going on along cauliflower row but not as intensely as before.

The other night, I met Taby for the first time, thanks to Boy Cantada – better known as Gerard’s dad – who hosted a dinner for friends at his Dasmariñas Village home. I’d mentioned to Boy a few weeks earlier that I’ve long dreamed of someday rapping with Taby who is acknowledged to be a boxing doyen. Boy made my dream come true.

Taby came through as publicized, so to speak. That night, he didn’t run out of stories about the ring legends of the 1960s when he used to patrol the sweat shops and boxing boot camps every day of the week.

Taby, 82, was involved in every major Elorde fight. Those were the days when boxing news made the front page of newspapers on a regular basis.

"Fistorama" was Taby’s baby and it spawned the likes of world champions Roberto Cruz, Erbito Salavarria, and Pedro Adigue. There were other contenders who became household names in boxing, thanks to "Fistorama," like Jet Parker, Roberto Andrade and James Skelton.

Taby’s tales of D’Flash should be written up in a book. Here are a few selected anecdotes.

Believe it or not, Taby said, Elorde’s right packed as much wallop as his vaunted left. As a southpaw, Elorde used to explain that since his right was closer to an opponent than his left, it had a better chance of connecting. Elorde also said he watched the movement of his opponent’s shoulders to signal whether to counter or not.

Taby said it was former Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson who suggested to use weights while shadow boxing to boost Elorde’s power. And it was also Lacson who, trying to test Elorde, sent a buxom femme fatale to the fighter’s room at the old Filipinas Hotel after a morning jog on Roxas Boulevard. The exasperated lady left the room and later complained to Lacson that Elorde had to be gay because he told her to go without a second look.

As for Elorde’s smoking habit, Taby said he couldn’t kick it. He smoked like a chimney. A month before a fight, he reduced his puffing to four sticks a day – ordinarily, he’s burn packs. The smoking eventually led to the lung cancer that killed him. "What a pity that he never got to fully enjoy his millions," said Taby.

What about Elorde’s nemesis Carlos Ortiz? "I knew Bay couldn’t beat Ortiz," noted Taby. "Ortiz was a junior welterweight who went down to lightweight. Bay was a junior lightweight who moved up to lightweight. Ortiz was just too strong. In their first fight, Ortiz told me he could’ve knocked out Bay in the fourth round but carried him until the 14th out of respect for Bay whom he knew was a national hero. It was the same outcome in the rematch – a 14th round knockout only in the second fight, Bay was out cold."

Taby confirmed that Elorde fought as KRS (Kintanar Radio Service) Flash during his early years as a pro in Cebu. KRS was owned by the late sportscaster Romy Kintanar’s father.

Taby recalled that when Elorde fought Teruo Kosaka in Cebu, the bout was sold out two months in advance and a lot of the money used to buy tickets was in small change, meaning the poor folk came out in droves to support the former bootblack from Bogo.

When Elorde staked his world title against Italy’s Sergio Caprari here, Taby said he remembered escorting then President Marcos to his ringside seat. Before Marcos sat down, the fight was over. Elorde had knocked out Caprari in a single round.

A lawyer, Taby said he represented Elorde’s manager Lope (Papa) Sarreal in a Games and Amusement Board (GAB) hearing on whether J. Amado Araneta, the Big Dome owner, could enforce his authority in designating Solomon Boysaw as a challenger. Taby faced three Araneta lawyers and won the GAB’s nod to uphold Sarreal’s rights.

More Taby stories in future columns.