Villanueva, Yeo talk things over, settle feud

For 20 minutes inside a PBA room yesterday all the bad blood and animosity unravelled for Enrico Vllanueva and Joseph Yeo and they shook hands and settled their differences in a controversy that had become a pesky issue for PBA commissioner Noli Eala.

That running feud reached its lowest point Sunday when they mixed it up at Araneta Coliseum South Gate, hurting a fellow pro player who got in the way.

Villanueva and Yeo admitted to figuring in the brawl and were to face sanction.

Eala said he will not tolerate the two players’ misconduct but he’s not yet ready to render a verdict since they’re still awaiting more testimonies from witnesses.

"They will not escape sanction but to me, more than the sanction, what’s more important is to find the root cause and put an end to it," said Eala.

"Sanction will not solve the deeply-rooted issue between these two players. I was happy both responded positively and at the end, they both wanted to talk it over. I didn’t tell them what to do but they agreed to put things in the past. They made a commitment to co-exist harmoniously in the PBA," Eala added.

Mike Gavino, Allan Salangsang and Manny Ramos also appeared in the PBA office to give testimonies.

After his meeting with Yeo, Villanueva apologized to Gavino who sustained a deep cut on his left eyebrow after absorbing a wild blow while trying to separate the protagonists.

Yeo, on the other hand, sustained bruises on the face and at the back.

Apparently, Sunday’s fight was sparked by a miscommunication as the two players chanced upon each other outside the Big Dome after their game.

Villanueva thought Yeo was looking for a fight as the Coca-Cola rookie told him, "Ano ang nginingiti-ngiti mo diyan? Tapusin na natin ito dito (What are you smiling at? Let’s finish things here)." Yeo told Eala he had wanted to patch things up with Villanueva when he made the remark.

While still awaiting sanction, Villanueva will be able to play as Red Bull tangles with Purefoods in a crucial game in the Talk n Text PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum today. The two teams fight for solo second place behind the frontrunning Sta. Lucia team in their 7:20 p.m. tiff.

PBA NOTES: The Villanueva-Yeo quarrel started when Yeo, then a La Salle star player, bloodied the nose of the former Ateneo prized pivotman in a charity game between the rival schools at the Big Dome last year… The two met anew in a pre-season tuneup and Rico gave Joseph a sharp nudge in the postgame ..Sunday’s brawl came a few hours after the Pacquiao-Morales showdown in La Vegas and so incensed Eala he ordered the two to report to his office the next day The media had a field day, prompting People’s sports editor Joe Antonio to headline their story "‘Pacquiao, Morales’ summoned."