Villanueva snares OPBF superfly title

CEBU, Philippines - Just one day after his stablemate Rocky "The Road Warrior" Fuentes retained his OPBF flyweight title, Arthur "El Matador" Villanueva brought another piece of good news to Cebu's fabled ALA Boxing Gym after he pulled off a hard-earned 12-round unanimous decision win over Japanese Taiki Eto to snatch the OPBF super flyweight crown last Wednesday night at the historic Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

In a text message sent to ALA top honcho Antonio "Bidoy" L. Aldeguer, trainer Edito Villamor relayed that the undefeated Bacoleño fighter courageously recovered from two knockdowns in round one and nine on the way to grind through a close, but well-deserved victory - his 21st straight packed with 12KOs.

The 23-year-old Villanueva went down the canvas late in the opening session after absorbing a big right shot from Eto.

After taking complete command in the second and third round, Villanueva decked Eto with a crushing right overhand in the fourth.

It was cruise control for Villanueva from that point on until in the ninth round when he again kissed the mat after being hit by Eto's solid right.

When the final bell rang, Villanueva has done enough to earn the nod of the three judges with the scores of 113-112, 113-112, and 114-112.

After the bout, international matchmaker Joe Koizumi, who arranged Villanueva`s title crack, informed the new champ that he will have to make a mandatory defense against fellow countryman Marco Demecillo-Singwangcha, the reigning Philippine jr bantamweight titlist who is under the wings of Cebuano topnotch promoter Rex "Wakee" Salud.

Last Tuesday evening at the same venue, Fuentes successfully defended his OPBF throne after beating Japanese challenger Yuki Nasu also by unanimous verdict.— with philboxing.com  (FREEMAN)