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From a genuine fighting family,
with three brothers (Ric, Melvin
and Alvin) who were also
professional boxers, and nephew
Giemel currently a 14-0
Flyweight prospect, former
two-time WBF World Strawweight
Champion Ronnie Magramo
was born in Mindoro Oriental,
Philippines.
His exact date of birth is
uncertain, but 1972 was the year
he first saw the light of day
and became a part of what would
later be known, at least
locally, as the “Skull and Bones
Family”, due to their
face-first, no-nonsense,
brawling fighting style.
Without much amateur experience,
he turned professional at
seventeen in 1989 with a
victory, but already in his
second outing he lost when
fellow newcomer Ala Villamor
(2-0) beat him on points.
Villamor would later go on to be
a world-class operator and twice
challenge for world titles, so
there was no disgrace in the
early set-back.
Southpaw Magramo won thirteen of
his next fifteen bouts, before a
rematch with Villamor was
arranged in June of 1992. Now
the Filipino Strawweight
Champion, and undefeated at
21-0-1, Villamor was a clear
favorite to retain his title
against the 14-3 Magramo, and he
lived up to expectations with an
eighth round knockout.
With four losses in eighteen
fights, and having failed at
national title level, it was not
a sure thing that young Ronnie
would ever fulfill his dream of
becoming a world champion. He
was affectionately called “The
Toy Bulldog” and admired for his
entertaining performances, but
early on it was hard to envision
him as a world-beater.
But after four consecutive
victories, including a decision
over the capable Nikki Maca
(25-4-3) and a fourth round
stoppage of highly ranked former
world title-challenger Noel
Tunacao (21-1-1), he received a
shot at Thailand´s WBA World
Champion Chana Porpaoin (28-0)
in August of 1993.
However, it was not to be for
Magramo, who put up a valiant
effort before dropping a
unanimous decision in Thailand.
One judge had him losing
114-117, while the two other
judges had him behind by 111-119
and 109-119, and the accurate
difference should probably be
found somewhere in between.
Two months later he returned to
the ring in what was supposed to
be a relatively easy comeback
fight. But Magramo unexpectedly
lost a ten round decision to
journeyman Jaime Aliguin
(13-15-3), and his road back to
world class level appeared to be
in tatters.
With little to lose, Magramo
accepted to fight world-ranked
and undefeated Japanese
contender Hiroki Sakakibara
(7-0-1) in December of 1993 in
Manilla, and resurrected his
career with a stunning second
round victory to put himself
back in the mix.
1993 was an up-and-down year for
Magramo, starting with the
triumph over Tunacao, which led
to an admirable world title
attempt, followed by the
disappointing loss to Aliguin,
but in the end, by beating
Sakakibara, the Toy Bulldog
could again dream the impossible
dream of a world championship.
A call came in early 1994 to
challenge IBF world Strawweight
titlist Ratanapol Sor Vorapin
(16-2-1) in February, so it was
back to Thailand for Magramo.
Bringing a rather mediocre 19-6
ledger, he was a heavy underdog
against the tough Thai, making
his fifth title-defense.
Again Magramo did well in his
opponents back-yard, but again
it was not enough as he lost on
points: 113-115, 111-118,
110-118. Sor Vorapin won
nineteen straight IBF world
title fights before losing his
crown in 1997, so, if nothing
else, Magramo had proved that he
belonged among the best on the
planet.
And he was rewarded less than
five months later, when he was
invited back to Thailand to face
Wanwin Charoen (9-2) for the
vacant WBF world title. It would
be third-time-lucky for the
hard-nosed Filipino, as he took
the decision out of the judges
hands by stopping Charoen in two
rounds.
Finally champion of the world,
Magramo stayed busy with a
non-title rematch against Jaime
Aliguin (14-18-3) the following
August, and this time he set the
record straight by outboxing his
former conqueror and winning a
clear unanimous decision.
(In an interesting side-note
to the Magramo vs. Aliguin
rivalry, Jaime Aliguin went
2-4-1 against the Magramo
brothers: 1-1 against Ronnie,
1-2-1 against Ric and 0-1
against middle brother Melvin.)
In his first defense of the WBF
World title, Magramo squared off
with Indonesian champion Faisol
Akbar in Manilla on October 8
1994. His record only listed as
3-1-2 by BoxRec, Akbar, who
later went on to also challenge
for the IBF world title, almost
certainly had many more
unregistered wins, and proved to
be a tough challenger.
But Magramo fought a smart
fight, and went on to win a
deserved unanimous decision in
front of his fellow countrymen.
With all his previous world
title fights taking place
abroad, it was a big night for
the still only 22-year-old, and
there would be more to come.
After another non-title win to
close out 1994, over Japanese
no-hoper Hideo Suzuki (2-7),
Magramo went back to what had
become his second home,
Thailand, in February 1995 and
defended his world championship
with a split decision over
undefeated local man Nungdiaw
Sakcharuporn (9-0).
Back in the Philippines, he
stopped South Korean upstart
Sung-Rok Yuh (1-1) in three
rounds the following May,
staying sharp for a July
title-defense against another
undefeated Thai, Fahsang
Pongsawang (6-0), this time in
Bangkok.
Unfortunately for Magramo, it
was not his night. Pongsawang,
who due to many Muay Thai fights
had much more experience than
his six professional boxing
bouts suggested, out-hustled him
over twelve rounds and was
declared the winner by close
decision.
But Magramo would soon get his
revenge, as a rematch was
quickly negotiated with the
handlers of the new champion,
and promoter Johnny Elorde
managed to bring it to the Ninoy
Aquino Stadium in Manilla less
than three months later.
With big brother Ric beating
former WBC world
title-challenger Toto Pongsawang
on the undercard (Its unclear if
Toto is related to Fahsang),
Ronnie made it a perfect night
for the Magramo family as he put
on a convincing performance to
regain the WBF world Strawweight
title by tenth round knockout.
The impressive rematch victory
would however be the last time
Ronnie Magramo won a world title
fight. He scored two stay-busy
victories in February and July
1996, before losing a
rubber-match with Pongsanwang in
Thailand by clear decision in
September.
Magramo put together a string of
seven straight victories in 1997
and 1998, which put him in
position to challenge for the
WBA Interim World title in
January 1999. In Thailand
(again!), he lost a close
majority technical decision
(75-75, 74-76, 73-78) after
eight rounds to Songkram
Porpaoin (19-1-1), and never
fought again.
Ronnie “The Toy Bulldog” Magramo
had a fantastic career, and
retired at only twenty-seven
years of age with a very
respectable 35-10 (22) record.
He fought eight times in
Thailand, winning twice, and
five of his overall defeats were
in world championship bouts.
And he won the WBF World
Strawweight title twice!
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