Grandson lurks in shadow of Da Flash

For almost a month now he’s been quietly or secretly training at the hot and sticky boxing gym of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

At 21 years, 5 feet 8 and 140 lbs, he hardly catches one’s attention from among the dozen more boxers in the gym.

Until you hear his name: Juan Martin Elorde.

The fresh graduate of St. Benilde, you see, is the grandson of Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, the former world jr. lightweight champion considered the greatest Filipino boxer ever and one of only two Filipinos to be elevated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

The young Elorde, nicknamed "Bay" as his great grandfather was fondly called, is the newest member of the RP training pool and, like his peers, is hoping to represent the country in future international competitions.

It won’t take long before Bay gets that chance, according to Alex Arroyo, a member of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) coaching staff.

"He’s got the basics and sound fundamentals. All he needs is a few more refinements," said the boxing coach as he watched Bay on the ring, doing a couple of rounds of shadow boxing.

"Sometimes he moves like a pro. But I don’t think he’ll have problems adjusting to the amateur style. We’re sending him to Baguio soon so he could start blending in with our finest amateur boxers," Arroyo said.

Bay grew up at the Elorde compound along Sucat Road in Parañaque where his father, Johnny (a former gold medalist in the SEA Games), and relatives put up a boxing center named after the late champion, a southpaw like his young namesake.

No wonder Bay, who started boxing at the age of 14, moves like a pro.

"It’s because I almost grew up watching professional boxers train. It’s really different. In the pros, there’s more of the inside-fighting. In the amateurs, it’s more about speed and earning those points with very little damage.

"And I used to train three minutes per round. Here in the amateurs, it’s two minutes per round. But I’m ready. I think I can adjust as an amateur," said Bay, a gold medalist in the 2001 National Amateur Open.

He said he hopes to represent the Philippines someday on the boxing ring, probably as a featherweight or a lightweight. At 140 lbs, he’s got to get rid of some excess baggage.

"All I have to do is train hard and I can make that weight. I’m ready. I’m willing to sacrifice. I’m willing to work hard for it," said Bay, who has two other brothers — 19-year-old Mig (who’s also into boxing) and 13-year-old Nico.

Bay said he was barely two months old when his grandfather died on Jan. 2, 1985.

"I don’t even have a memory of him. I don’t even have a picture of us together. But I was told that Lolo (grandfather) got to carry me as a baby," said the young boxer after a one-hour training at the oven-hot gym.

Once in a while, he said he tries to catch tapes of the late Elorde in action, particularly those fights his grandfather waged against boxers and fierce rivals like Teruo Kosaka and Sandy Saddler.

Carrying the name of the late champion, however, has some disadvantages.

"I can feel the pressure. People might expect too much from me. There’s this pressure," said Bay, who wears a barber’s cut, unlike his grandfather.

"He wore his hair like brush-up. But sometimes I also feel that I do look like him, especially with the shape of my bones on the forehead and near the eyebrows. I think I’m taller than him by an inch," said Bay.

Whatever, Bay is hoping that he’ll be like his grandfather someday.

"Except that all my relatives, from my Lola (Laura) to my father, are against me turning pro. But that’s fine with me. All I want is to be like Lolo. He loves helping the poor, and he loves representing the country. That’s all I want to be," he said.

Gabriel "Flash" Elorde must be smiling from Above.