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Villanueva Stops Canoy in 10th; Wins WBO Oriental 126-lb. Title PhilBoxing.com Mon, 06 Jul 2009 Midsayap, North Cotabato-- Lorenzo "Thunderbolt" Villanueva, awkward yet physically in top shape, rolled over former Asian Games gold medallist Eric Canoy scoring three knockdowns before finally stopping the ageing champion in the 10th round to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight title before a delirious and ecstatic home crowd of about 4,000 at the municipal gymnasium here on Saturday, July 4. Villanueva, 23, took everything that Canoy could dish out including all the tricks that the champion learned in a long boxing career like strangling the young challenger and hitting him on the top of the head but this was not enough to stop the orphan from barangay Bual Norte in Midsayap from scoring with his powerful haymakers. Canoy, who is from Zamboanga City and managed by Cong. Erbie Fabian, started very well catching Villanueva with neat combinations to the head and the body in the first two rounds. But the complexion of the fight changed as the young challenger continued to pressure the champion and succeeded in inflicting a cut over Canoy's right eye in the 5th round. International referee Teddy Alivio ruled that it was caused by a punch. The referee also slapped a point deduction against Canoy in the 8th after the tiring champion continued to grapple and wrestle the untiring challenger. Villanueva floored Canoy twice in the 9th before finally stopping him with a powerful combination to the body and the head in the 10th.. "What can I do? I'm old for this rough game now," Canoy said as he graciously accepted his defeat which could also mean the end of a gloried boxing career which saw him represent the country in the Olympics once and winning the gold in the Asian Games. "I could take his punch. That's why I decided to rush in," Villanueva said in explaining why he threw all caution to the wind and relentlessly pursued the champion all throughout the fight, sometimes throwing wild punches that hit nothing but air. "It's really difficult to go up against an opponent who could take a punch and who is always in front of you," said Sammy Gelloani, the country's top boxing promoter who assisted North Cotabato Vice Gov. Manny Pinol in staging the championship bout in this town. Villanueva's victory made him the first regional boxing champion to ever come out of this big town of about 120,000 population and the fifth regional boxing champion produced by the Braveheart Boxing Club of North Cotabato which Vice Gov. Pinol and his brothers own. "Villanueva is still very raw. He still has a long way to go before he could be considered a world title prospect. What is important is he has the power, the heart and the stamina. We will have to work hard on his technical skills inside the ring," said Vice Gov. Pinol who plucked the 5' 6" tall orphan from among the young boys who participated in the "Paboksing Para sa Masa" program which he started when he was governor of the province from 1998 to 2007. In the undercards, WBO Interim Oriental Bantamweight champion Rolando "Smooth Operator" Magbanua of PIgcawayan town stopped Reggie Binueza in the 3rd round, WBO Junior Flyweight Champion Edrin "The Sting" Dapudong of the town of M'lang won over Michael Rodriguez by unanimous decision while newly-crowned WBO Miniflyweight Champion Rommel "Little Assassin" Asenjo also of Pigcawayan scored a TKO over Rocky Sardido in the 2nd round. WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion Jundy "Pretty Boy" Maraon of Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, Braveheart Boxing Club's fifth regional champion, will see action again on Aug. 9.  |
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