VILLANUEVA TO MOVE UP IN WBO WORLD RANKINGS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 04 Aug 2010
WBO Asia Pacific president Leon Panoncillo says that oriental featherweight champion Lorenzo ?Thunderbolt? Villanueva, a rangy fighter with power to go along with a fighting heart, is certain to move up in the world rankings following his 7th round TKO victory over WBC world title challenger Balweg Bangoyan last Sunday in M?lang, North Cotabato.
Panoncillo told us that Villanueva ?will surely move up in the ranks after winning over a world-ranked and former WBC title challenger. This will surely look good in his resume.?
The WBO Asia Pacific official said the Villanueva-Bangoyan fight was ?a great match. However, it seems that Bangoyan was not prepared for the long haul especially since he came in overweight? by four-and-a-half pounds and because of that had to wear ten ounce gloves and was fined 10 percent of his purse.
Panoncillo said based on what he has seen of Villanueva?s fights, the prot?g? of former North Cotabato governor Manny Pinol ?will need fine tuning? and believes a trainer in the US could ?mould him into a great fighter.?
The WBO official echoed what international referee Bruce McTavish told us which is that Villanueva has ?power in both hands and the heart of a champion who never quits. He reminds me of Daniel Ponce De Leon, the former world super bantamweight champion.?
Panoncillo believes that ? with the right trainer Villanueva will be a contender to reckon with.? Villanueva slugged it out with Bangoyan in six action-packed rounds before the punishment inflicted on Bangoyan resulted in his left eye being almost totally shut prompting the ring physician to recommend to referee Tony Pesons to call a halt before the start on round seven.
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