CALL it coincidence but on March 16, 2008, the entire Filipino boxing ring community will commemorate the 48th year of the crowning of the greatest-ever world junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

        Forty-eight years later, on the same day, Manny Pacquiao will attempt to vanquish WBC super featherweight (also junior lightweight) kingpin Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in a 12-round title fight at the Mandalay Bay and Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

        If Pacquiao could topple the WBC crown off the head of the Mexican dynamo, it would be a double celebration for the Philippines.

        It was on March 16, 1960 that underdog Elorde humbled in the seventh round defending champion Harold Gomes of Rhodes Island in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history during the inaugural of the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

        In their rematch on August 17, 1960, Elorde settled the argument by disposing off Gomes in the first round at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California.

        Elorde (88 wins, 33 KOs, 27 losses) reigned as world champion for seven years.

        On March 16, 2008, Pacquiao, 29, is slightly favored to tame the murderous Marquez, 34, who vowed to avenge the embarrassing setback suffered by his fellow Mexican boxers to Pacquiao.

        Some Filipino experts have predicted a stoppage victory for Pacquiao who will try to eclipse the record established by Elorde, a Visayan like Pacquiao.