Ilonggos remember Pancho Villa’s 105th birthday
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 01 Aug 2006
ILOILO CITY – The Ilonggo community here and in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental commemorate today (August 1) the 105th birthday of the great ring immortal Franciso Guilledo popularly known as “Pancho Villa.”
Born August 1, 1901 in Sitio Ilog, Kabankalan, Guilledo won the world flyweight crown on June 18, 1921 with a seventh round knockout win over defending champion Welshman Jimmy Wilde at the Polo Grounds in New York.
He died ten days after losing a non-title duel versus welterweight champion Jimmy McLarnin on Jul 4, 1923.
Villa was a former stevedore in the Muelly Loney port here. He was married to Gliceria Concepcion.
Boxing patron Frank Atas, Jr. said Villa’s son once managed a small boxing gym somewhere in Jaro district here.
“He resembled his father and he also loved boxing only that the press did not recognize him,” said Atas who also once owned a boxing gymn.
Historian Gerlie Mini Uy, a Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) lawyer in La Carlota City, Kabankalan’s neighboring city, said Villa is still extremely popular in Negros Occidental.
“Every time people in Negros talked about boxing, they would always mention Pancho Villa’s ring exploits and heroism,” said Uy whose neighbors are relatives of another former world champion Benjamin Gan also known as “Small Montana.”
Villa has been touted as the greatest flyweight of the century by the Associated Press, was also the first world champion from Asia. He was one of only four Asians enshrined into the New York-based International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994. He was also inducted to the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
He began his boxing career in 1919 and adopted the name Pancho Villa after a famous Mexican revolutionary. After his successful bids in the Philippines, he went to New York in pursuit of international bouts.
Among his most memorable fights were his losses to former Olympic champion Frankie Genaro who beat him on points two times in as many confrontations. They were penciled to meet for the third time but his untimely death dashed that dream match to pieces.
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