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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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'THUNDERBOLT', 19 WINS, 18 KOs, STEPS OUT OF OBSCURITY PhilBoxing.com Sun, 13 Mar 2011  Four years after he turned professional quietly racking up an impressive fight record of 19 wins with 18 knockouts, 24-year-old Lorenzo "Thunderbolt" Villanueva will be ushered by his new promotions outfit, ALA Boxing, to share centerstage with world miniflyweight champion Donnie Nietes in the latter's homecoming fight April 9 in Bacolod City. Villanueva, who will be making a defense of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental Featherweight title against a still unnamed opponent, is one of three fighters from the Braveheart Boxing Club of North Cotabato, which I and my 10 brothers own, who has been placed under the promotional umbrella of ALA Boxing Promotions. The Bacolod card, which will be covered by ABS-CBN, will be the fifth in the series of Pinoy Pride shows promoted by ALA Boxing Promotions. This will be the first time that the lights will be focused on this left-handed fighter from the frontier village of Upper Bulanan, Midsayap, North Cotabato fronting the rebel-conrtrolled Liguasan Marsh who was one of the young boys that we discovered and molded under the grassroots program "Paboksing Para sa Masa" when I was still governor of the province. Lorenzo's rise to where he is now, holder of the WBO Oriental Featherweight title, had been slow because the trainers had a difficult time improving his fighting style. He threw punches wide and wild and the trainers felt that there was a lot of work to be done on his defense and I agreed with them. Villanueva, a silent and shy boy orphaned by his father when he was a kid, is not your extraordinarily talented boxer who will show flashy movements inside the ring. He is awkward and at 5' 7" gangling. He loves to rush in and throws wide punches which leaves him open to pinpoint counterpunching. But there are several aspects in Villanueva's fighting persona that made me persevere in slowly molding him in spite of his obvious lack of boxing art and skills. These are his power, his heart and his ability to be able to take a punch and withstand tremendous blows that would easily send a lesser fighter to the canvas. I have always believed that boxing skills could be developed and honed, power, to a certain degree, could be upgraded, and durability could be enhanced. But the heart? If you don't have it, you won't have it, forever! And the heart of Lorenzo Villanueva is as big as a battleship. In his controversial first fight against Eric Macas two years ago in Kuratong Baleleng territory which ended in a No Decision, Villanueva withstood a bum stomach to bring the fight to its end in the 5th round. (The referee stopped the fight because of a big cut below Macas' left eye and ruled it a result of a headbutt giving the fight to Macas by Technical Decision. I protested based on the video which showed that there was no headbutt and that it was caused by legitimate blows. The Games and Amusements Board reviewed the fight and ruled it a No Decision. Villanueva should have won that fight by TKO. In their second meeting, he punished Eric Macas and stopped him in the 2nd round of an Oriental championship fight.) Right after the stoppage in their first fight, Villanueva threw up everything inside his stomach right in his corner. "I wanted to run to the toilet every time he hit me in the body," Villanueva later told me with a chuckle. He kept on gulping it down when he felt like throwing up. I found out later that he had spoiled noodles before the fight. Fighting with a bum stomach? A lesser fighter would have quit early on. But not Villanueva and this is what I believe makes him an outstanding prize fighter. He possesses extra ordinary courage to hang on and fight on. This is the factor that makes Manny Pacquiao a fighter above the rest. Indeed, critics will say Villanueva has not met the toughest in his division yet. Admitted. The only big names he had fought thus far were previously undefeated Asian Games Gold Medallist Eric Canoy from whom he got the WBO Oriental title (TKO 10th), journeyman Jaime Barcelona who already had over 80 fights when Villanueva was making his 14th professional fight (knocked down in the 3rd but finished the fight), and former WBC International junior featherweight champion Balweg Bangoyan whom he stopped in the 6th round. Villanueva was supposed to defend his title against Australia's Billy Dib but the Australian promoters of the brash and dirty-fighting Dib canceled the fight when I asked for a neutral referee in what was supposed to be a WBO Oriental title fight. When I agreed to the fight against Dib, not a few of my boxing friends told me it was a dangerous fight for a small money ($5,000) but I told them that it was time to start giving Lorenzo tougher tests. "If he can't win against the powder-puff punching Dib, he will never beat anybody of note in the featherweight division," I countered. Fine-tuned by world class trainers in the caliber of Freddie Roach and given two or three more tough fights that would really hone his skills, the Thunderbolt would be ready for the big-time. Will he be a world champion? At this point, it is still too early to say because he is still raw. But if the criteria for becoming a champion would be the heart, power, durability and ring skills, then it is safe to say that Villanueva would already be the owner of three-fourths of a world title. The fight on April 9 before a national television audience, including The Filipino Channel subscribers around the world, would give boxing fans a chance to assess The Thunderbolt. (Notes: I have been criticized in the past for writing about my own boxers and our boxing program in North Cotabato. Haven't these people heard of "Autobiography?" If we read books by people who write about themselves, what is wrong with a boxing manager/writer sharing with the rest of the boxing world information about his fighters whose lives and career he knows like the palm of his hand? Just consider me an "embedded journalist." Of course, you have to understand that I could be biased. That's a given. Manny Pinol.) Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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