Rene Barrientos did it his way

Ryan Songalia

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Rene Barrientos did it his way
At age 71, former junior lightweight world champion Rene Barrientos is still going strong, giving advice to young fighters and explaining what he thinks is wrong with boxing today

MANILA, Philippines – The typical picture of an aging former boxer is that of a man whose mental faculties are beginning to fade from years of punishment; whose financial house is not in order due to poor planning; and whose disposition in life is bitter from years of deceit.

In that sense, Rene Barrientos is unconventional. Then again, much of how Barrientos approached The Sweet Science was out of the norm.

Take for instance his trainers. There were none, save for a friend whom he hired to stand in the corner, give him water between rounds and offer outside observations of his opponent when solicited.

“Some other boxers are relying on some other people because they are not using their common sense,” Barrientos, who at 71 remains fitter than the average senior citizen, told Rappler at the 14th Gabriel “Flash” Elorde Memorial Awards in March. “When it comes to training, I’m the only one who knows what’s good for me.”

Barrientos, who won the WBC junior lightweight champion in 1969, did it his way, and sometimes to a fault. His lone technical knockout loss – a seventh round stoppage against Adolph Pruitt – was due to a cut that he himself tried to stop by putting a coagulant on his gloves and applying it to the wound.

Afterwards, Barrientos consulted a medical book and stitched his own eyebrow with a needle and thread.

Self-reliance worked out for the most part in his favor. After 16 years as a pro, Barrientos retired in 1978 with a 39-7-2 (14 knockouts) record and, most importantly, his health. Barrientos says his ability to evade punches and dedication to maintaining his body are the reasons why his speech hasn’t slurred like many of his contemporaries.

He credits boxing with helping him meet his wife, a nurse named Antonietta Cerna, the niece of his manager Dr Antonio Almirante. The sport also earned him enough money to invest in rental homes, which financed the college education of each of his 5 children.

“The income of boxing at that time is very small,” says Barrientos, who took only 15,000 pesos for his title-winning effort. “I’ve taken care of my earnings. I put my little money in a little business and until now I’m still harvesting the fruit of my labors.”

A crown regained

Barrientos was born in Aklan, the fourth of 10 children born to a policeman-father. Their father died when Barrientos was 12 and at age 15, according to Nick Joaquin’s 1977 book, Amalia Fuentes and Other Etchings, joined his brothers in their farm in Cotabato. He dropped out of school at age 17 due to lack of money and took a job as a mechanic’s helper at a logging company for 4 pesos a day. When the company moved to Samar, he received a promotion to foreman. His pay increased to 6 pesos a day.

When he returned to Cotabato, Barrientos chanced upon Gabriel “Flash” Elorde’s title-winning fight against Harold Gomes at a movie theater and became hooked on the sport. “Elorde was famous at that time,” remembers Barrientos. “He upgraded the boxing business in the Philippines at that time, especially when he knocked out Harold Gomes [to win the junior lightweight title in 1960] at Araneta Coliseum. At that time I was his admirer because I was a kid.”

After turning pro in 1962 for a pay of 10 pesos, Barrientos relocated to Cagayan de Oro and within 3 years found himself in a 12-round showdown with his hero Flash Elorde. Elorde was the 130-pound champion at the time but the fight was fought one division up and the title wasn’t on the line.

Still by all accounts, Barrientos gave Elorde a tough go for 12 rounds, with Elorde remarking afterwards that Barrientos was a champion in the making. 

Barrientos continued rolling, defeating Carl Peñalosa (father of future champions Gerry and Dodie Boy Peñalosa), winning 11 straight fights before losing a decision and drawing in successive fights with future junior welterweight champion Pedro Adigue Jr of Masbate within a month’s span in 1968. After dropping a decision in Panama to the local champion Antonio Amaya, Barrientos turned in three straight victories.

That set up a meeting with WBC/WBA junior lightweight titleholder Hiroshi Kobayashi in 1968. The fight ended in a controversial draw with Barrientos claiming to have knocked down Kobayashi 3 times in Japan. Its lone redeeming quality might have been the headline of a Japanese newspaper after Barrientos declared that his wife was the only person who could defeat him:

“Barrientos says only his wife can lick him”

The WBC ordered an immediate rematch, and when Kobayashi refused, the WBC stripped him of the title and ordered the number one contender Barrientos to face the number two contender, Ruben Navarro of East Los Angeles.

Barrientos defeated Navarro by unanimous decision. Joaquin, who chronicled the fight, writes, “So battered was the foe that at one dazed point he couldn’t locate his corner.”

The account states that Barrientos had fallen ill an hour before fight time, vomiting uncontrollably and threatening to back out of the fight. A priest from Cagayan de Oro coaxed Barrientos to go on with the fight, but by the eleventh round he began to vomit once again. Barrientos continued on, defending his weakened stomach while pounding the exposed torso of his opponent. Joaquin writes, “So obvious was the outcome that most of the audience didn’t even stay to hear the decision.”

Illustration by Mara Mercado

Barrientos’ reign would last little over a year, when he lost a split-decision to Japan’s Yoshiaki Numata in another fight he claims was the result of a hometown decision.

Barrientos initially retired in 1972 after breaking his left hand but returned to the ring in 1978 for two more fights. Thirty-six years have passed since Barrientos hung up his gloves after defeating a Thai named Jong Satherigym by decision. He knew the time was right because his stamina had begun to fail and he wasn’t able to catch his second wind.

A different sport

The sport has gone through a number of changes since those days. Championship fights, marred by high profile ring deaths, were cut from 15 rounds to 12 rounds. Barrientos asserts that the sport has undergone technical changes as well, and not all of them for the better.

“There’s a big difference; most of the boxers now are fighting at distance, not in close range,” says Barrientos.

“I think the boxers now are not seriously taking care of themselves. Some other boxers now, even the world champions are in the night clubs, drinking. But before, in my time, if you do that you’re in trouble because the boxing in our time had more rounds.”

Barrientos still remains involved in boxing, overlooking the 50 amateur boxers in Cagayan de Oro who Mayor Oscar Moreno supports. Being the old school kind of guy he is, Barrientos keeps it simple when imparting advice to the upstarts whom he led to the national championship in 2013.

“I believe in myself that boxing is common sense. If you want to be a good boxer, there are 3 categories: proper training, proper nutrition and proper resting. You can be a world champion as long as you’re a smart fighter. The IQ of a boxer must be 101%,” says Barrientos. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia

 

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.

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