By Peter Marinelo: Achieving fame in any sport is tricky business. It takes talent, smart management, un-common character, and really being at the right place at the right time. The people who reach fame in sports do so with not only skill and talent but larger than life type personalities.
In no sport is this truer than the sport of boxing. Let’s be honest, if skill alone earned a fighter the fame he deserved then more people would recognize fighters like Charley Burly, Dick Tiger, and more recently Bernard Hopkins. Manny Pacquiao is easily one of, if not the most, popular fighters in this generation. His character is un-common, his style is electric, his path was laid before him, yet his way to fame is not exclusive to him.
Pancho Villa was Manny Pacquiao before Manny Pacquiao. Once the greatest Asian fighter to ever live, and one of the greatest flyweights to ever lace up a pair of gloves this little man from Panay in the Philippines was pure dynamite in the ring. Born Francisco Guilledo on August 1st, 1901 “Pancho” as he was known later, fought 105 times with 73 wins (22 by KO) , 5 losses, 4 draws, and 23 no decisions before he died on July 14th, 1925 at the tender age of 23 years old. Villa was never knocked out.
Villa would be noted as a miniature Jack Dempsey. His life outside the ring was as loud and flamboyant as his style in the ring, just like Dempsey’s was. Only Villa was more dominant in his division than Dempsey was in his according to Damon Runyan, a sportswriter of the time and friend of Jack Dempsey.
Old time fight referee, Billy Roche, would say of Villa, “Pancho Villa packed as much personality in his little brown body as Jack Dempsey. The boy who popularized the Filipino fighter was a little Manassa Mauler, a vicious, rip-snorting hooker who went 15 rounds at blinding speed and finished apparently as fresh as he started.”
Manny Pacquiao’s career mirrors his predecessor’s in a lot of ways. Both men became known first in Asian fighting circles. Neither men would be immediately noticed when they made their U.S fight debut. It was the style of both men that ultimately earned them favor amongst fight fans. Both men utilized speed and quickness with Pancho Villa being the faster and quicker of the two. Both men had pop. Before Villa, Asian fighters were known mostly for their speed and movement but lacked any real power. Villa changed this idea with his destruction of Jimmy Wilde. Yet, despite his power, Pancho chose to use his boxing skill to win his fights.
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