A Look Back at Philippine’s 1st Featherweight Champion Luisito Espinosa
By Rich “Lite It Up” Lopez
This article is dedicated to my friend Rommel Calisura.
About 2 weeks ago, Filipino Nonito Donaire made another attempt to be a player in the Featherweight division. He did put a good effort but came up short. Prior to that he did win the WBA World Featherweight title against Simpiwe Vetyeka but lost it in his first defense by stoppage against Nicholas Walters. Going back to 2003 in the Featherweight division, the great Manny Pacquiao won the lineal title (not world title) by stopping Marco Antonio Barrera in 11 rounds. Afterwards, Pacquiao attempted to win the WBA and IBF World Featherweight titles against Juan Manuel Marquez but was unsuccessful due to the draw verdict.
Thinking of Filipino champions and the Featherweight division, one fighter comes to mind. That fighter is Luisito Espinosa. During the mid and late 90’s when I was getting into boxing, Espinosa was one of the first Filipino fighters I’ve heard of at that time. However I only read about him in boxing magazines and I didn’t see him fight until he made his HBO debut in 1998. After learning more about him, he deserves recognition. He did more in the Featherweight division than Pacquiao and Donaire. He also held the Bantamweight title briefly as well. Let’s take a look back at this Filipino champion and the accomplishments he achieved.
Luisito Espinosa from Manila, Philippines, was known as “Lindol” which means earthquake. He had a record of 47-13, 26 KO’S and boxed professionally for 21 years from 1984-2005. He mainly fought in his homeland of the Philippines. After compiling a record of 21-5, Espinosa finally got his big break. It took him 5 years to finally get his 1st title shot against the popular Thai fighter Khaokor Galaxy who was the WBA Bantamweight Champion at that time. Galaxy was a well-respected champion and won the title by beating Wilfredo Vazquez in 1988. It also marked down the 1st time that he and his twin brother Khaosai were the first twins to become world champions. In 1989, Espinosa went to enemy territory in Thailand and stopped Galaxy in the 1st round. Some observers felt that Galaxy took a dive in the fight due to an odd 20 second delayed reaction. Either way, Espinosa pulled off an upset and became the WBA World Bantamweight Champion. After that, Espinosa made 2 title defenses and then he suffered a shocking knockout loss to Israel Contreras in the 5th round. Espinosa’s title reign at Bantamweight was short lived but he then decided to move up in weight and try his run in the Featherweight division.
Espinosa managed to win 6 fights in a row at Featherweight but once again ran into a brick wall. In 1993, he faced off with Alejandro Gonzalez in Mexico and got stopped in the 2nd round. This was another bad break for Espinosa, but the Filipino was not finished just yet. He kept fighting and won 4 fights straight to earn him a title shot. In 1995, he would face the WBC Featherweight Champion Manuel “Mantecas” Medina in Japan. He defeated Medina by a 12 round unanimous decision and became the 1st Featherweight Champion from the Philippines. This time his title reign would not be short lived and he made 7 title defenses. During his title run, he defeated fighters such as: Cesar Soto, Manuel Medina (2nd time), Alejandro Gonzalez (avenged his loss), and Kennedy McKinney. His fight with McKinney was televised on HBO and Espinosa made a huge statement for the U.S. televised audience. McKinney was a well-respected champion and had only been stopped by Marco Antonio Barrera in the 12th round. Espinosa came out and stopped McKinney in the 2nd round. This was a huge victory for Espinosa, however this would be his last time as a Featherweight champion.
He lost the Featherweight title in his 8th defense in a rematch against Cesar Soto by a 12th round unanimous decision in 1998. He got another title shot in 2000 for the vacant WBC World Featherweight belt against Guty Espadas Jr. He came up short again and lost a 12th round unanimous decision. Espinosa would fight on for five more years but stayed in the sport a little too long. He suffered 4 more losses at the end of his career and retired in 2005.
Afterwards, Espinosa was living in hard times in the U.S. with little money. He was working odd jobs just to make ends meet and went through a divorce. There was a good ending to this story though. Espinosa filed a lawsuit against his former manager, Rod Nazario, as his manager failed to pay him his guaranteed purse of $160,000.00 in 1997. Espinosa only received about $29,000.00 and this was for his title defense against Carlos Rios. In June of 2015 after 17 years, the Court of Appeals ruled in his favor and he received a payout around $130,000.00. This would be another victory for the Filipino.
During his stay in the U.S, he would also train MMA fighters; most notably the Diaz brothers Nick and Nate. Espinosa is now currently living in China and is a boxing trainer at the Everlast Fight & Fitness Center in Hong Kong. Espinosa should be remembered as one the best fighters from the Philippines and should never be forgotten.
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