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Philippines, 24 Mar 2026 |
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BEN VILLAFLOR WAS THE MANNY PACQUIAO OF HIS TIME By Jim Amato PhilBoxing.com Sun, 17 Jun 2007  Ben Villflor. He was a buzzsaw southpaw out of the Philippines who made his mark in the early seventies. He was a boy wonder who could punch like hell. That power would make him a two time world champion. He was born in November of 1952 and turned pro in 1966. Do the math...He won his first twelve professional contests but then lost a pair of decisions to Roger Boy Pedrano. Although he won most of his fights after that, an occasional loss spotted his record. Ben made his move in 1970 with a KO over highly regarded Don Johnson. In 1971 he halted former featherweight title challenger Raul Cruz in the tenth. In 1972 he stopped another featherweight challenger in rugged Frankie Crawford. He also took out the respected Jose Luis Lopez in two rounds. On April 25, 1972 Villafor outscored Alfredo Marcano to win the WBA junior lightweight championship. He had a tough defense with a disputed draw against the talented and capable Victor Echegary. In 1973 he lost the title to the slick Kuniaki Shibata. Seven months later Ben met Shibata again. This time he flattened Shibata in one round to regain the title. In 1974 he drew with the hard luck Apollo Yoshio and he blasted out future champion Yasutsune Uehara in the second. In 1976 Ben drew with the clever challenger Samuel Serrano. Six months later Ben was outclassed by Serrano. Without a title and with no more horizons to conquer, Ben retired, one month shy of his 24th birthday. He squeezed in 69 pro bouts in his short but fabled career. His ledger was 54-8-7 with 31 career kayos. Ben was the Manny Pacquaio of his time. Editor's Note: PhilBoxing.com would like to welcome noted boxing writer Jim Amato to its fold of growing high-powered boxing scribes.  Jim Amato. Jim Amato is a member of the Boxing Writers Association Of America (BWAA) and the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO), that was once directed by Hall Of Famer Ralph Citro. Boxing notables Hank Kaplan and Harold Lederman are among IBRO's members. Amato is also on the Publicity Committee for the American Association For The Improvement Of Boxing (AAIB) that was co-founded by Steve Acunto and the late Rocky Marciano. He is also a member of the Ohio State Former Boxers And Associates and the Trumbull County Of Ohio Legends Of Leather, President Sal Marino. He was inducted into their Hall Of Fame in October of 2006 for boxing journalism. You can contact Jim at jimsboxing@zoominternet.net You may also visit Jim's blogsites at http://amatoboxingsite.multiply.com/ and http://boxinggreats.multiply.com/. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jim Amato.  |
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