His potential was evident: he was a solidly built southpaw whose major asset was his quick hands and relentless body attack on his opponents.

He defeated Tanny Campo and Hiroshi Horiguchi both in 12-round decisions to win the Philippine and Asian bantamweight titles.

Jack Fiske of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "It was a dirty fight throughout and all the onus must be on the 126-pound champion's skinny shoulders.

From this corner, it appeared highly improbable that he could have successfully defended the title ... if he hadn't resorted to all the so-called tricks in and out of the rule book.

The crowd estimated to be around 30,000, inside the newly built Araneta Coliseum, rushed into the ring after seeing Gomes go down to his knees at the one-minute-50-second mark of the seventh round.

The event happened two decades after compatriot Ceferino Garcia, known as the father of the 'bolo punch', lost the middleweight division he lorded over until 1940.

In the next round, Gomes mounted a brief comeback, but at the start of the seventh, Elorde hammered him again, connecting with rights to the head followed by a left to the jaw that sent him down once more.

[8] He defended the crown 10 times notably against Sergio Caprari, Terou Kosaka, Johnny Bizzaro, Kang-Il Suh & Love Allotey until June 15, 1967, where he lost a majority decision to Yoshiaki Numata of Japan.

In fact, his San Miguel Beer TV commercial (together with Bert Marcelo and Rico J. Puno), wherein he famously said the words ".... isang platitong mani" (one plate of peanuts), during 1980's it was named as one of the top ten most renowned Filipino advertisement of all time.

He and his wife Laura were buried at Manila Memorial Park - Sucat [11] In 1993, he became the first Asian inducted into the New York-based International Boxing Hall of Fame.

They also celebrated his historical win against defending WBA junior-lightweight champion Harold Gomes that ended the RP's 20-year world championship drought.

Filipino boxers Brian Viloria, Donnie Nietes, Rodel Mayol, Marvin Sonsona and Gerry Peñalosa received an award for their contributions.

[8][14] The Gabriel "Flash" Elorde Memorial Boxing Awards & Banquet was launched in 2000 honoring the former and current boxers in the Philippines living or posthumously celebrating their victories throughout held every year.

Author James Ellroy, an avid boxing fan, named a character in his novel American Tabloid after Elorde.

Her father Lope Sarreal, Sr. (born September 25, 1905 – March 14, 1995) from Imus, Cavite is enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.