Ancajas another British tormentor
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 26 Nov 2017
When IBF superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas stopped Irishman Jamie Conlan to retain his title in Belfast last week, he joined an elite cast of Filipinos who?ve victimized British fighters in world championship bouts.
At the top of the list is Iloilo?s Pancho Villa who knocked out Jimmy (Mighty Atom) Wilde in the seventh round for the world flyweight diadem before 23,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York in 1923. Villa, whose real name was Francisco Guilledo, became the first Asian to capture a world boxing crown at 21. He was paid a mammoth purse of $65,000 for the fight. Wilde was 30 and entered the ring with a 132-2-1 record. Villa raised his mark to 67-6-3. During that era, fighters were extremely busy. It was Villa?s 10th bout that year and he fought 10 more outings before the year ended. Wilde was knocked out cold and never fought again.
Boxing News of London recently ranked the top 100 British fighters of all time. Wilde was No. 1 in the honor roll. ?Wilde wasn?t just a great fighter, he was a phenomenon,? said Boxing News. Wilde came out of a two-year retirement to face Villa and never bargained to be thrashed by the Filipino dervish.
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Another British warrior who was halted by a Filipino was Ricky Hatton. In May 2009, Manny Pacquiao knocked out Hatton with a single left hook to the jaw in the second round to claim the IBO superlightweight belt at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. He was ranked No. 16 among the top 100 British fighters.
?With his magnetic personality, self-deprecating sense of humor and swarming pressure boxing style, Hatton regularly took Las Vegas by storm with his incredible army of supporters,? wrote Boxing News. ?His life nosedived into depression following a violent shellacking at the ends of Pacquiao.?
Cornelius Boza-Edwards was born in Uganda then migrated to England and became a British citizen. In 1981, he lost his WBC superfeatherweight title to Rolando Navarrete of General Santos City on a fifth round stoppage in Viareggio, Italy. Boza-Edwards was down twice in the fourth and once in the fifth before referee Arthur Mercante stepped in. Boza-Edwards was listed No. 56 among the top 100 British fighters.
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Tunisia-born Charlie Magri, No. 69 in the British ladder, was dethroned as WBC flyweight champion by Cebu?s Frank Cedeno in a brutal sixth round knockout at the Wembley Arena in 1983. Magri was ahead in two of the three judges? scorecards when Cedeno sent the hometowner down thrice to finish him off. Referee Angelo Poletti waved it off at 2:33 of the sixth.
Two other Filipinos who won over Britishers in world title fights were Johnriel Casimero and Eric Jamili. Last year, Casimero was at the O2 Arena in southeast London to stop Charlie Edwards in retaining his IBF flyweight title. In 1997, Eric Jamili claimed the vacant WBO minimumweight title via an eighth round disposal of Mickey Cantwell at the London Arena. The referee was American Mark Nelson who was the third man in the ring in Jeff Horn?s disputed win over Pacquiao in Brisbane this year.
On the flipside, two Britons who beat Filipinos in world title bouts were Duke McKenzie and Dave McAuley. In 1988, McKenzie halted Rolando Bohol to take the IBF flyweight title at the Grand Hall in Wembley. McKenzie was No. 44 in the British honor roll. In 1989, McAuley scored a split 12-round decision over Dodie Boy Penalosa to retain the IBF flyweight crown, also at the Grand Hall. McAuley was No. 63 in the British ladder. The win over Penalosa was decisive even as Filipino judge Pascual Ingusan had it 117-112 for his countryman. The two other judges saw it for McAuley with Dave Paris of Leeds scoring 120-109 and Torben Hansen of Denmark 119-113. Curiously, Paris was one of three judges assigned to Ancajas? recent fight against Conlan.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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