[kenyan_cheena]

The Manila Metro

TUESDAY 25 JULY 2006

"THE FORGOTTEN MAN"
PUTS ON A SHOW

Story by Romeo Concepcion

With all the publicity that was lavished upon Athens gold medallist Pancho Villa in recent months Filipino fight fans might have been forgiven for believing that he was the only boxer in our nation worthy of attention. It does appear that we "jumped the gun" somewhat, as Villa's disappointing effort in his IBL debut illustrated. Of course, we know that Pancho will redeem himself in time, but for now all of us should be getting behind a young pugilist who has become something of a forgotten man recently, the lightweight Ben Villaflor. This talented 20 year-old also fought in Athens, but had the misfortune of running into eventual gold medallist Pernell Whitaker in the opening round. Villaflor brought a 13-1(8) record into the IBL and last night he was victorious in his second bout under the organisation's banner.

Fighting in the main event at Manila's Rajah Sulayman Park, Villaflor scored a dominant unanimous decision win over Korea's Hwan-Kil Yuh (80-72, 80-73, 80-72). The bout was a quarter-final in the IBL's Inter-Continental Lightweight Championship tournament. Villaflor is the #1 seed and his win sent him through to the semi-finals and a matchup against the tough Scotsman Jim Watt. Villaflor was never troubled by Yuh, controlling the fight with confidence and flooring his opponent for the only time in the contest one minute into the final round. He outlanded Yuh 222-125, pressing the Korean and mixing it up on the inside. Villaflor is now 15-1(8) while Yuh suffered his first career defeat and fell to 6-1-2(4). Speaking in the ring after his win Negros-born Villaflor thanked the large crowd that was in attendance, promising them that he'll be doing his very best to win the tournament and bring the Inter-Continental belt to the Philippines.

Appearing in the sixth bout on the card 4th-seeded Watt recorded his second stoppage victory in the tournament and in doing so prevented an all-Filipino semi-final. He had decimated the promising but inexperienced Ghanian Azumah Nelson inside of three rounds in his stage one bout and followed that impressive win up with a 4th round knockout of Johnny Sato. The first two rounds were even and exciting but after Sato was cut on the left eyelid from an accidental headclash early in the 3rd he became cautious, as if more concerned with avoiding any further damage than winning the fight. This played right into Watt's hands and when he unleashed a brutal left-right-left salvo late in round four Sato collapsed to the canvas. He tried to push himself up but couldn't beat the count, the bout over at the 2:32 mark.

In the other quarter-finals Congo native Frederick Tshilolo won a split decision to upset 2nd seed Benni Williams and the Italian Aldo Spoldi overcame Thailand's Daomai Sithkodom in a battle of undefeated fighters. With Spoldi and Tshilolo seeded 6th and 10th respectively it's an unexpected semi-final and both men will be out to make the most of their opportunity. The Villaflor-Watt clash figures to be an intriguing one, to say the least. It's a bout that could very well be repeated down the road as a title fight, as the winner will be favoured to go on and claim the inaugural championship.