Fighting former Olympic gold medalists

Pacquio and Pancho Villa have one thing in common

By ALEX P. VIDAL / PNS
September 15, 2008

Manny Pacquiao will not be the first Filipino world champion to fight a former Olympic gold medalist in the person of Oscar De La Hoya, who pocketed the United States’ lone gold medal in boxing in the lightweight division in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Francisco Guilledo, popularly known as “Pancho Villa”, was the first “brown bomber” to be pitted against an Olympic champion.

In fact, Pancho Villa (92-8, 25 KOs, 4 draws), the first Filipino and Asian world champion, never won a single fight in his trilogy with Frankie Genaro (94-26, 18 KOs, 8 draws), flyweight gold medalist in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

Another Filipino Jongjong Pacquing came closed to fighting 1984 Los Angeles Olympics featherweight gold medalist Meldrick Taylor (38-8, 20 KOs, 1 draw) for International Boxing Federation (IBF) light welterweight title in Las Vegas on Sept. 3, 1988 but pulled out in the eleventh hour after he injured his knee.

Pacquing (59-24, 30 KOs, 5 draws), of Cagayan De Oro City, was already in Las Vegas when the injury occurred. He was replaced by James Buddy McGirt who was knocked out in the 12th round.

In their first meeting on July 6, 1922 in Jersey City, New Jersey, the fight between Villa and Genaro ended in no contest.

In their rematch on August 22, 1992 in Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York, Genaro showed who’s the boss and outpointed the Ilonggo buzzsaw in 10 rounds.

After racking up nine straight wins on American shores, Villa faced Genaro anew for the American flyweight champion on March 1, 1923 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Genaro continued his mastery over the visitor from Ilog, Kabankalan, Negros Occidental by pounding out another points victory after 15 rounds.

A fourth meeting did not materialize after Villa died of tooth infection 10 days after losing on points to Jimmy McLarnin  at the Oaks Ballpark, Emeryville, California on July 4, 1925.

Villa’s title was not at stake when he lost to McLarnin thus the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) declared Villa’s title vacant after his death and proclaimed Genaro the new champion.

Always seeking the best competition, Genaro lost his American title to Fidel LaBarba in 1925 and dropped a decision to former world champ Newsboy Brown in his next outing.

Genaro was a quick-footed fighter who combined agility and aggression to become a world champion. His day finally came in 1928 when he defeated Frenchy Belanger to win the NBA flyweight crown. Although he lost the title in his first defense against Emile Pladner, he took it right back by defeating Pladner one month later.

Genaro made successful defenses of the NBA title against Ernie Jarvis, Yvon Trevidic and Belanger before meeting Midget Wolgast, who was recognized as world flyweight champ by the New York State Athletic Commission. The unification bout ended in a draw and each champion went their separate ways. Genaro made successful defenses against Victor Ferrand, Jackie Harmon and Valentin Angelmann until being knocked out by Victor "Young" Perez in 1931.