Rene Barrientos (boxer)

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Ireneo "Rene" Barrientos (born July 25, 1943) is a Filipino former professional boxer. He competed from 1962 to 1978 and held the WBC super-featherweight title in 1969.

Early life[]

Ireneo "Rene" Barrientos was born on July 25, 1943, in Balete, Aklan, the fourth of 10 children whose father was a policeman. Their father died when Barrientos was 12 years old. At a tender age of 15, he joined his brothers working in the farm in Cotabato.

Like most boxers, Barrientos dropped out of school at age 17 due to poverty and worked as a mechanic's helper in a logging firm. He was promoted to the position of foreman when the company transferred its concession to Samar.

Professional career[]

Upon his return to Cotabato, Barrientos saw upon Gabriel “Flash” Elorde's world title fight against Harold Gomes at a movie house and was fascinated by the sport of prizefighting especially that Elorde became world champion that time. He turned pro on October 2, 1962, knocking out Charlie Kid in the second round. He transferred to Cagayan de Oro and on February 27, 1965, he faced his idol Flash Elorde in a 12-round match for the Orient Pacific Boxing Federation lightweight title at the Cebu Coliseum. Elorde was already the world super featherweight champion that time but his world title belt was not at stake. Barrientos fought Elorde with a tough fight for 12 rounds, but he lost a unanimous decision. But after the match Elorde commented that Barrientos will become a future champion. Barrientos went on to win over Carl Peñalosa, the father of world champions Gerry and Dodie Boy Peñalosa, twice. In the first encounter, Barrientos won by 4th-round TKO. During the rematch, he won by unanimous decision. Both fights were held at the Cebu Coliseum.^[1] After 11 straight victories following the match with Elorde, he lost a decision then draw the rematch in succession with future junior welterweight champion Pedro Adigue Jr. on January 21 then on February 17 of 1967.

On April 29, 1967, he won the Philippine super featherweight title via points decision over Raymond Rivera in a fight held in Davao City.

He battled WBC/WBA super featherweight/junior lightweight champion Hiroshi Kobayashi on March 30, 1968, in Tokyo, Japan. The fight ended in a controversial majority draw with the judge and referee from Japan scoring it a draw, while the Filipino judge saw it in favor of Barrientos. The WBC ordered an immediate rematch, which Kobayashi refused, prompting the WBC to strip the Japanese of his title and ordered the number one contender Barrientos to face the number two contender Ruben Navarro of Los Angeles, California.

Barrientos defeated Navarro by unanimous decision at the Araneta Coliseum on February 15, 1969. It was reported that Barrientos vomited an hour before the fight time, but pummeled his opponent badly to win convincingly. Barrientos’ reign as world champion lasted only more than a year as he lost a controversial split-decision to Japan's Yoshiaki Numata in Tokyo, Japan on January 3, 1971.

He retired after his majority decision win over Javier Ayala in Hawaii on July 25, 1972, after injuring his left hand. But he returned to the ring in 1978 for two more victories in fights against Filipino Joe Faune by 2nd-round KO and Thai Jong Satherigym by decision.

At present, Barrientos trains boxers in Cagayan de Oro City under the patronage of Mayor Oscar Moreno.^[2]

Professional boxing record (incomplete)[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
48	Win	39–7–2	Jong Satherigym	PTS	10	May 27, 1978	Cebu City, Philippines
47	Win	38–7–2	Joe Faune	KO	–	Feb 11, 1978	Gold City Coliseum, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
46	Win	37–7–2	Javier Ayala	MD	10	Jul 25, 1972	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
45	Win	36–7–2	Armando Zerpa	TKO	10	May 27, 1972	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
44	Win	35–7–2	Tatsunao Mitsuyama	TKO	10	Jun 4, 1971	Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines
43	Loss	34–7–2	Yoshiaki Numata	SD	15	Jan 3, 1971	Sunpu Arena, Shizuoka, Japan	For WBC super-featherweight title
42	Win	34–6–2	Guts Ishimatsu	MD	10	Oct 29, 1970	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
41	Win	33–6–2	Roger Zami	TKO	10	Sep 29, 1970	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
40	Win	32–6–2	Suleman Itti Aanuchit	TKO	12	Aug 14, 1970	Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines	Won OPBF super featherweight Title
39	Win	31–6–2	Shinichi Kadota	PTS	10	Jun 6, 1970	Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines
38	Loss	30–6–2	Yoshiaki Numata	SD	15	Apr 5, 1970	Metropolitan Gym, Japan	Lost WBC super-featherweight title
37	Win	30–5–2	Yukinori Hiraki	PTS	10	Feb 28, 1970	Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines
36	Win	29–5–2	Eugenio Espinoza	TKO	10	Dec 20, 1969	Manila, Philippines
35	Loss	28–5–2	Adolph Pruitt	TKO	10	Jul 29, 1969	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
34	Win	28–4–2	Len Kesey	TKO	10	Apr 15, 1969	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
33	Win	27–4–2	Ruben Navarro	UD	15	Feb 15, 1969	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines	Won vacant WBC super-featherweight title
32	Win	27–4–2	Sumio Nobata	PTS	10	Dec 21, 1968	Davao City, Philippines
31	Win	28–4–2	Antonio Amaya	PTS	10	Jun 22, 1968	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines
30	Draw	28–4–2	Hiroshi Kobayashi	MD	10	Mar 30, 1968	Nippon Budokan, Japan	for the WBC & WBA super-featherweight title.
29	Win	28–4–1	Hubert Kang	PTS	10	Jan 14, 1968	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines
28	Win	27–4–1	Sumio Nobata	KO	10	Nov 13, 1967	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines
27	Win	26–4–1	Koji Okano	UD	10	Oct 23, 1967	Chiba City, Japan
26	Loss	25–4–1	Antonio Amaya	PTS	10	Jul 22, 1967	Estadio Juan D. Arosemena, Panama City, Panama
25	Win	25–3–1	Francisco Bolivar	PTS	10	Jun 19, 1967	Nuevo Circo, Caracas, Venezuela
24	Win	24–3–1	Raymond Rivera	PTS	12	Apr 29, 1967	Davao City, Philippines	Philippines Games & Amusement Board Super Feather Title
23	Draw	23–3–1	Pedro Adigue Jr	PTS	12	Feb 17, 1967	Cebu, Philippines	for the OPBF Light Title
22	Loss	23–3–0	Pedro Adigue Jr	PTS	12	Jan 21, 1967	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines	for the OPBF Light Title
21	Win	23–2–0	Kang Il Suh	PTS	12	Jan 21, 1967	Manila, Philippines

See also[]

• List of world super-featherweight boxing champions
• List of Filipino Boxing World Champions

References[]