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Philippines, 23 Jan 2026 |
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McJOE ARROYO BEATS ARTHUR VILLANUEVA IN A CONTROVERSIAL FASHION By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Sun, 19 Jul 2015  It would have been easier to accept a loss if a fighter one is rooting for losses fair and square. But when it happens with a aid of a referee particularly one that comes from the same country of the winning fighter, one can?t help but feel indignation for what has happened. Case in point: Arthur ?King? Villanueva. Villanueva fought McJoe Arroyo for the IBF super flyweight title tonight at El Paso, Texas. In paper it looks that it was a neutral place as both fighters are not from mainland USA. The Texas Commission picked a referee ?from Texas? who really is a Puerto Rican by the name of Rafael Ramos. Now I am not saying that Villanueva should have been given the nod although he was far busier throwing many more shots than Arroyo and was fast catching up with Arroyo to a point that the fight could have been even. What I am saying was Villanueva at a certain point and time in the fight appears to be fighting two men in the ring. For an accidental head butt that did not cause damage, Villanueva was readily deducted a point by the referee. But when it was McJoe who butted Villanueva that causes a huge cut on Villanueva eyebrow, referee Ramos did not do a thing. He merely said, ?its accidental?. The cut unfortunately got more involved, going ?deeper than the fat layer of the skin? so the ring doctor said. Therefore in spite of the protest of Villanueva who indicated that the cut didn?t bother him, the Doctor stopped the fight. At that point and time, Villanueva got busier in the fight and even wins the previous round. He could have conceivably won the fight if it was allowed to go the final two round because Villanueva had created a momentum. But the referee decided to consult the doctor at that point perhaps knowing that his fellow Puerto Rican may loss his advantage as the Filipino was surging and stopping the fight at that point would assure a Puerto Rican win. Had the situation been reversed, I wonder if referee Ramos would have done the same? Blood is thicker than water, you know. The fight result was incessantly booed by the crowd. They apparently felt the stoppage was not fair. But what was very interesting was the Showtime Sports commentators led by Mario Ranullo, Al Berstein and Paulie Malignaggi stated that the scores were not fair and the fight results should have been different from what the three blind mice recorded as their scores. But that is how it goes in Texas. The Commission is inept and many fights results oftentimes should not have ended the way they did. Photo: Edito Villamor works on Villanueva's cut. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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