-Francisco Guilledo-

Manny Pacquiao is easily one of the most popular fighters in the world today but to the Filipino people he is so much more than a boxer. He is an idol to many and an inspiration to most. Every time Pacquiao enters a boxing ring he brings an entire nation with him.

However, Manny Pacquiao is not the first Filipino boxer to reach greatness in the ring. He follows a long line of champions. This will mark part one of a two part series titled “Before Manny Pacquiao.”

Born Francisco Guilledo, but better known as "Pancho Villa," he is considered by some as the greatest Asian fighter ever. Though small in stature, (five feet, one inch), Villa was a relentless beast in the ring. His professional boxing career began March 5th, 1921 against Mike Ballerino. On September 14th, 1922 Villa fought for the American Flyweight title against Johnny Buff in the famed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. By the time of the Buff fight, Villa had only been fighting professional for a little over a year but in that time span he was already a veteran of over 60 fights with a record of 54-3-3.

Pancho went on to stop Buff in the 11th round claiming the American Flyweight title. Only ten months later Villa found himself in the biggest fight of his still very young career against Jimmy Wilde, who has an unbelievable 133-3-2 (99 KO’s) record coming into the bout. Wilde, known as the “Mighty Atom,” had devastating knockout power and superb defense and came into the bout the flyweight champion of the world. However, he would not exit the ring as the champion.

Villa pounded Wilde, scoring knockdowns in the fourth and fifth rounds, finally ending the fight in the 7th round. With the victory, "Pancho Villa" became the very first Filipino boxer to become a world champion and also a national hero. "Villa" would defend his world title a few times before facing Jimmy McLarnin on July 4th, 1925 in a non-title match.

Leading up to the fight, however, "Villa" suffered from a toothache and had the tooth removed the day of the fight. In true warrior fashion "Villa" insisted on going on with the fight. The decision to fight, however, was a costly one as "Villa" lost to McLarnin on the scorecards. Several days after the McLarnin fight, "Villa" had more teeth extracted, and shortly after, the infection worsened and he had to be rushed to the hospital. It was discovered that the infection had spread to his throat. He underwent surgery but fell into a coma and died the following day. "Villa" was 23-years old at the time of his death. He had a ring career that only spanned 4 years but in those four years he amassed an impressive record of 80-5-3 (24 KOs). "Pancho Villa"  is considered to be one of the best flyweight fighters of all times and was inducted into the Ring Magazine boxing Hall of Fame in 1961 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994, the second Filipino to be so honored after Gabriel Elorde.