On July 14, 1925, Francisco V. Guilledo, better known for his ring name "Pancho Villa", died due to complications from tooth extraction.
Regarded as the first Filipino and the first Asian boxer to have won a major world title (1923), he is also ranked by several pundits as one of the greatest flyweight boxers of all time. The Associated Press in 1999 ranked him as the best flyweight of the 20th century. The Ring Magazine in 1975 ranked Villa as the 2nd greatest flyweight of all time, as did Boxing Scene in 2009. BoxRec, meanwhile, currently ranks Villa as 5th best overall. Known to have never been knocked out during his entire career, all his recorded losses were by decision.
He had a total of 103 fights, including 17 newspaper decisions (no decision).
His first professional fight was with Alberto Castro in Manila on New Year's Day, January 1, 1919, where he won via knockout. Villa would have his shot at a title belt in his 78th bout. Facing British boxing champ William "Jimmy" Wilde, Villa won both Wilde's flyweight title (National Boxing Association, predecessor of the World Boxing Association), as well as the inaugural New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) and The Ring flyweight titles at the 7th round. This fight led to Wilde's retirement.
Villa was born in Negros Occidental on August 1, 1901, making him 17 years old on his first professional bout. His manager was Frank Churchill, known to have managed other champions like Mike Ballerino and Tod Morgan (both junior lightweight/super featherweight).
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