Pancho Villa (boxer)
Pancho Villa (born August 1, 1901 in Iloilo , Philippines as Francisco Guilledo , possibly Francisco Tingson, † July 14, 1925 in San Francisco ) was a Filipino flyweight boxer.
After being involved in frequent brawls in his village, boxing manager Frank Churchill happened upon him in Manila and signed him. He named it after the legendary Mexican bandit and revolutionary Pancho Villa in order to be able to market it better.
At the beginning of his career he boxed exclusively in the Philippines, in 1922 he moved to the USA. In the " no decision era " he lost so-called "newspaper decisions " (officially without evaluation) against Abe Goldstein and Frankie Genaro . But he managed to get a fight for the (open) US championship and to win by knockout. A second point defeat against Genaro was controversial.
When the aging Welsh legend Jimmy Wilde was looking for an opponent to defend the world title after two years of inactivity in the USA, the marketable Villa was chosen instead of Genaro. Villa gave Wilde no chance and won by knockout in the seventh round. He became the first Filipino world champion in the history of professional boxing.
Mainly because of this fight, he is considered one of the best flyweights of all time, but his exact classification is disputed, as Wilde was far from his best form after the long inactivity. So that has Ring Magazine Wild at number one, Genaro at position four, but Villa is not in the top five. Others, like the Associated Press, insist on placing him ahead of Wilde, usually ranked one, because of this fight.
His last fight was a loss on July 4, 1925 in a non-title fight against Jimmy McLarnin . Ten days later, Villa died at the age of only 23 after a dragged-out tooth infection.
In 1994, Villa was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Villa, Pancho |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Guilledo, Francisco (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Filipino flyweight boxer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 1, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Iloilo , Philippines |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 14, 1925 |
| Place of death | San Francisco |