The Manila Metro
TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2006
VILLAFLOR STOPS TSHILOLO
IN 11TH, WINS IBL'S I-C TITLE
Story by Romeo Concepcion
Negros-born lightweight Ben Villaflor became the first asian fighter to win an International Boxing League title last night when he stopped Congo native Frederick Tshilolo in the 11th round of their Inter-Continental Championship bout at Manila's Rajah Sulayman Park. Villaflor had controlled the opening ten rounds of the contest and held a healthy lead on all three scorecards heading into round eleven. He floored Tshilolo twice through the frame's first two minutes before referee Silvestre Abainza saved the 10th seed from further harm ten seconds from the bell. An emotional Villaflor mounted a ringpost and thumped his chest, shouting "Yes!" and pointing to the crowd as they warmly applauded him. The 21 year-old was lifted onto the shoulders of his corner crew and completed a trio of victory laps around the ring. Villaflor had outlanded Tshilolo 308-121 at the time of the stoppage.
The win improved his record to 17-1(9) while Tshilolo fell to 9-2(6). Villaflor has struggled to gain recognition and appreciation from the Filipino public during his professional career, mostly due to the fact that he made an early exit from the 2004 Olympics while flyweight Pancho Villa brought home from Athens a gold medal and all the acclaim that comes with it. However, Villaflor's popularity received a boost after his gutsy ten-round tournament semi-final win over Scotland's Jim Watt. That bout was more or less regarded as the final seeing as the two combatants were the highest seeds remaining in the event. Last night's victory over the determined but outclassed Tshilolo was almost an afterthought. Villaflor appeared to agree with this assessment during the post-fight interview but still called it the greatest win of his career. Villaflor spoke of his determination to go through 2007 undefeated, a streak that will earn him a shot at the world championship if he achieves it.
In the evening's co-feature Watt missed out on a chance to gain some redemption when he was knocked out cold by Italy's Aldo Spoldi, the bout an official eliminator to determine the I-C champion's first challenger. In a fantastic contest Watt held a one-point lead on all three cards through round seven. While Spoldi was outlanding him the Scotsman's aggression and workrate was winning him the bout. But with twenty seconds left in the 8th Spoldi landed a jolting right cross flush on the chin and Watt collapsed to the canvas. He remained motionless for a good minute after referee Kevin Champion had counted him out, Spoldi an unexpected winner and securing a shot at Villaflor's title. Their bout will be held during the second week of February. Earlier in the evening Ghana's Azumah Nelson scored an eye-catching one-punch 1st round KO of Ishimatsu Suzuki before Manila's Johnny Sato recorded a gutsy split decision win over South Africa's Benni Williams to up his record to 12-2-2(7).
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IBL LIGHTWEIGHT
INTER-CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINAL
(#1) BEN VILLAFLOR (16-1-0(8)) TKO11 (#10) FREDERICK TSHILOLO (9-1-0(6))
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