Jose J. Cantada, better known as "Smokin'" Joe Cantada, (March 15, 1942 – March 22, 1992) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

TV host, anchor & commentator. He died of lung cancer in March 1992. He distinguished himself with his smooth baritone voice and his flawless use of figures of speech and idioms in calling sports events. Together with Pinggoy Pengson, Cantada was a senior anchorman for the '' Vintage Sports''' PBA coverage in the 1980s. He was previously a boxing and cycling commentator.

Career

Cantada started his career as a staff announcer doing an early morning program for a radio station in 1962. He then transferred to DZHP where he spent many years honing his talents with the likes of

Harry Gasser Harry Gasser (December 2, 1936 – April 3, 2014) was a Philippine news presenter Ronnie Nathanielsz Ronald Fredrick William Nathanielsz (November 3, 1935 – November 11, 2016), was a Sri Lankan-born Filipino sports journalist, commentator and analyst. Early life Nathanielsz was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1935. He was the eldest son of E ...

, Larry Cruz and others. He did the coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where he did the blow-by-blow account of the final round loss by Anthony Villanueva to Soviet boxer Stanislav Stepashkin.Smokin' Joe throws in towel vs Big C
Manila Standard, March 24, 1992 One of Cantada's greatest moments were being the ring announcer at the

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fight between

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and

Joe Frazier Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure ...

and doing the commentary of the first

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- Thomas Hearns bout in Las Vegas. From there, he moved on to far greater heights by anchoring the PBA games for its television production franchise holder, Vintage Enterprises in 1982. For the first eight years of Vintage's coverage, the program had Cantada as its main broadcaster with Pinggoy Pengson, Sev Sarmenta and Ed Picson as three of its play-by-play commentators. The last coverage of Cantada was the replay of Shell vs. Purefoods game held last April 9, 1991.

Death

Cantada's last TV appearance was when he became the play-by-play commentator for the replay match of the controversial Shell-Purefoods game on April 9, 1991. He bade goodbye unexpectedly because of health problems. This resulted in a bum stomach that rushed him in

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later that day; Cantada then went to the US to check his throat infection but doctors discovered that he had lung cancer, which was incurable that time. The commentator died on March 22, 1992, in San Francisco, California. A tribute was held in his honor by the PBA a day after he died. Sev Sarmenta hosted the special program at the NASA (now PhilSports Arena).Swift forces playoff, but tribute to Joe steals show
Rocky Nazareno, Manila Standard, March 24, 1992. On May 29, 2005, he was posthumously inducted as one of the first members of the PBA Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantada, Joe 1942 births 1992 deaths Boxing in the Philippines Cycling in the Philippines Filipino television journalists Sports commentators Ateneo de Manila University alumni Philippine Basketball Association broadcasters Filipino television sportscasters