The Philippines first-ever silver medalist in the world’s most prestigious sporting event, the Olympics, Filipino boxer Anthony Villanueva dies on Tuesday morning, he was 69 years old.
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Anthony Villanueva won the country’s first Olympics Silver medal after he advanced to the gold medal match of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He lost to Stanislav Stephaskin of the Soviet Union in a hotly-contested and debated final match in the Featherweight division of the Olympics boxing event.
The 69-year-old Anthony Villanueva has been bedridden for several years now and currently based in Cabuyao, Laguna. According to the friends of Villanueva’s family, he died in his sleep at around 11 Am on Tuesday, May 13, 2014.
Anthony Villanueva’s father, Jose Villanueva, is also one of the country’s pride of the Olympic Games after he won the bronze medal during the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California.
For the past few years, Anthony Villanueva tried to sell his silver medal because of the lack of support from the Philippine government. The government responded by giving Anthony Villanueva a pension but it was enough for his ailing problems.
