Rustico Torrecampo

Rustico Torrecampo (born 1 August 1972 in Davao City, Philippines) is a retired Filipino professional boxer notable for being the first fighter to defeat Manny Pacquiao.

Torrecampo is the fifth of eight siblings and is a high school drop-out, completing just his freshman year. His father, Escolastico Torrecampo, Sr., was killed by New People's Army guerrillas in Davao City in 1985. Torrecampo is married to Cecille Camposano; they have three children, Ruscel Carl, Carisa Rose and Rich Cymoun. He lived with his extended family in Tondo, Manila.

After retiring from boxing, Torrecampo worked at a factory in Quezon City. In 2006, he quit the job and became an ambulant vendor, selling food out of a bicycle cart in Tondo. In 2007, he was wanted for murder in the stabbing death of a garbage truck driver who allegedly hit his food cart, spilling his wares into the street. In 2011, Torrecampo was out on bail pending court hearings to resolve his case.

Torrecampo fought in the light flyweight division from 1993-1997 and retired with 14 wins, 8 losses and 5 draws. On 9 February 1996, he fought Manny Pacquiao, who at that time held an 11-win, 0-loss record, in Mandaluyong City, Manila. Pacquiao failed to make weight and was penalized by being made to wear eight-ounce gloves; Torrecampo wore six-ounce gloves. Torrecampo controlled the first two rounds and knocked out Pacquiao in the third round with a left hook to the body as Pacquiao was coming in.

"When he went down, I knew he wouldn't get up. The referee could've counted to 100 and he wouldn't have been able to recover. I prepared for him. I knew after throwing a jab, he would follow up with a straight or an uppercut. I waited for him to jab, then I countered."

— Rustico Torrecampo, quoted from an interview

A month after his victory over Pacquiao, Torrecampo broke his left wrist during another boxing match; he never went to a doctor for treatment. He retired in 1997; the improperly-healed fracture leaving a small bone sticking out of his left wrist. Torrecampo's biggest paycheck was a Php 30,000.00 purse for a fight in either Thailand or South Korea. His purse from the Pacquiao fight earned him Php 6,500.00 and his largest local paycheck was Php 17,000.00 for a bout he lost in General Santos City.

Return to professional boxing

In 2011, Torrecampo came out of retirement after 14 years. He won his first comeback fight against a younger opponent via a third-round knockout.