The Pinoy Pride fighter, Arthur “King” Villanueva defeated Mexican fighter Arturo “Fuerte” Badilla in the fourth round of their boxing match as part of Pinoy Pride XXI on Saturday night and captured the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific super flyweight title.
The Villanueva vs. Badillo match-up is the main supporting card of the Pinoy Pride XXI held at the world-cl(–foul word(s) removed–) Solaire Resort Hotel and Casino in Paranaque City, Metro Manila. The “King” landed countless left-right combination to the face and body of the visiting fighter which became the reason why international referee Danrex Tapdasan stopped the fight at 2:03 of the fourth round.
Photo Credit: PhilBoxing.Com
The visiting Mexican fighter tried to fought back in the early rounds but he was caught several times by Villanueva’s fast and stinging jabs. Badillo was also hurt on the head in an accidental headbutt in the second round of their match. At the third round Badillo’s blood continued to flow and the fight was stopped momentarily for the doctor to check the wound and commenced the fight.
During the fourth round King Arthur saw an opportunity to knockout his opponent after he caught Badillo at his own corner. For the very first time, Badillo is now included in the elite list of Filipino fighters who are boxing champions.
After Arthur “King” Villanueva’s victory he thanked his promoter the ALA Promotions under its president Michael Aldeguer for giving him a chance to fight and the ABS-CBN TV led by its president Charo Santos for “supporting the Pinoy boxers.”
Aside from King Arthur’s win, the Filipinos dominated the Pinoy Pride XXI, AJ “Bazooka” Banal won against Abraham “Cholo” Gomez via second round TKO. In the main event of the boxing extravaganza, Merlito Sabillo defeated Jorle Estrada and retained his WBO Minimumweight world title.