Pancho Villa: The Filipino Legend

Pancho Villa, The Filipino Legend is the amazing story of the first world boxing champion from the Philippines.  Francisco Guilledo was born in Iloilo City, Philippines in 1901. As Pancho Villa, he began his professional boxing career in 1919 in Manila winning the Flyweight Championship of the Orient in his second year.

In search of fame and fortune, Villa came to the United States in 1922 and won the Flyweight Championship of America. The following year, he captured the World Flyweight Championship with knockout win over the great Jimmy Wilde of Wales. Villa had four title defenses before his unexpected death at the age of twenty-three from Ludwig's angina.

In 2002, Ring Magazine voted Pancho Villa one of the "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years." The Associated Press voted Villa the #1 Flyweight of the 20th Century. Pancho Villa was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994.