Pancho villa boxer death scene
Francisco Guilledo: A World Champion Forever
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 15 Jul 2024
Art of Boxing: Courtesy of Rodolfo “Jun” Aquino.
July 14, 2024
San Francisco, CA:
Today, we bow our heads and remember Francisco Guilledo—known to the world as Pancho Villa—a champion in both title and spirit. It has been ninety-nine years since his untimely death on July 14, 1925, just ten days after his last fight against Jimmy McLarnin. Yet, the memory remains of the bravest Filipino who captured our hearts and imaginations through the Sweet Science of Bruising.
We owe a debt of gratitude, one we can never fully repay, to Francisco Villaruel Guilledo—the original "Little Brown Fighting Doll" worthy of induction into any hall of fame. His God-given talent was matched by his unrelenting drive to win in and out of the squared circle.
We honor his achievements as Asia's first boxing world titlist and the only Filipino to wear the American flyweight crown—heroic sporting deeds that became a guiding light for the Filipino people.
His mortal remains rest at Manila North Cemetery, where his grave (as depicted above in 1926) has been recently restored to its original design by friends, family, and well-wishers of the great boxing champion.
Born on August 1, 1901 during the Philippine-American War, the former pastor de cabras (goat herder) and lustrabotas (bootblack) from La Carlota, Negros Occidental, transcended boxing as we know it. Standing only 5 feet 1 inch and weighing less than 114 pounds, he looked up to fighters like Eustaquio Duarte, Francisco Labra, and his fistic idol Gaudencio “Kid Dencio” Cabanela.
He honed his craft and developed a unique cross-armed defense, devastating double left hooks (liver-to-head) made possible by his scientific footwork with the help of an American soldier named Rufe Turner—“Master of the Educated Elbow” —a fighter, sparring partner, and resident instructor at the Olympic Stadium. Under the
STORY OF PHILIPPINE BOXING PART IV: PANCHO VILLA'S UNTIMELY DEATH
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 02 Apr 2020
Pancho Villa successfully defended his world flyweight title four times over two years, inserting some non-title fights. It remained in his hands and never relinquished it until his death two years later.
Before returning to the United States, he fought one more bout in Manila, against Clever Sencio, on May 2, 1925. It was the first world title fight involving two Filipino opponents.
Villa prevailed by unanimous decision. The thousands of fans who saw the match at Wallace Field, now Luneta or Rizal Park, did not know that they had saw Villa's final victory and his second to the last fight in this world.
Villa returned to the United States to prepare for his next match, a non-title fight against future Hall of Famer Jimmy McLarnin scheduled for July 4, 1925, at Ewing Field in San Francisco. (top photo)
In the days leading to the fight, Villa's face became swollen due to an infected wisdom tooth. According to newspaper reports, on the morning of the fight, Villa went to a dentist to have the tooth extracted. The abscess became swollen and he was advised not to continue with the fight.
Despite the pain and swelling inside his mouth, Villa went ahead with the fight with McLarnin. Villa used only one hand to protect his ailing face most of the duration of the fight. With this predicament, Villa surely lost, though he was not stopped and went the distance. It proved to be Villa's last fight.
“It was a tough fight,” McLarnin was quoted by Peter Heller. “On the inside he kept hitting me on the ears. He was a great infighter. I wound up with two black ears. I heard of people winding up with black eyes, but I wound up with two black ears. He was a great little fighter.”
Two or three days after the McLarnin fight, he had three more teeth extracted after an infection was diagnosed. Against his dentist's advice of bed rest, Villa spe
Pancho Villa
Mexican revolutionary general and politician (1878–1923)
For other uses, see Pancho Villa (disambiguation).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Arango and the second or maternal family name is Arámbula.
Francisco "Pancho" Villa (PAN-choh VEE-ə,PAHN-choh VEE-(y)ə,Spanish:[ˈpantʃoˈβiʎa]; born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced out President Porfirio Díaz and brought Francisco I. Madero to power in 1911. When Madero was ousted by a coup led by General Victoriano Huerta in February 1913, Villa joined the anti-Huerta forces in the Constitutionalist Army led by Venustiano Carranza. After the defeat and exile of Huerta in July 1914, Villa broke with Carranza. Villa dominated the meeting of revolutionary generals that excluded Carranza and helped create a coalition government. Emiliano Zapata and Villa became formal allies in this period. Like Zapata, Villa was strongly in favor of land reform, but did not implement it when he had power.
At the height of his power and popularity in late 1914 and early 1915, the U.S. considered recognizing Villa as Mexico's legitimate president. In Mexico, Villa is generally regarded as a hero of the Mexican Revolution who dared to stand up to the United States. Some American media outlets describe Villa as a villain and a murderer.
In November 1915, civil war broke out when Carranza challenged Villa. Villa was decisively defeated by Constitutionalist general Álvaro Obregón in summer 1915, and the U.S. aided Carranza directly against Villa in the Second Battle of Agua Prieta. Much of Villa's army left after his defeat on the battlefield and because of his lack of resources to buy arms and
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