Ben Villaflor

Ben Villaflor
Ben Villaflor
Born	Benjamin Villaflor; November 10, 1952 (age 71); Negros Occidental, Philippines
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Super-featherweight
Height	5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Reach	67 in (170 cm)
Stance	Southpaw
	Boxing record
Total fights	68
Wins	54
Wins by KO	31
Losses	6
Draws	6

Last updated May 11, 2024

Benjamin Villaflor (born November 10, 1952) is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1966 to 1976. He was a two-time WBA and The Ring super-featherweight champion between 1972 and 1976.

Professional boxing career

According to records, Villaflor began his career as a professional boxer when he was only thirteen years old, on October 1, 1966, beating Flash Javier by decision in four rounds. Most of Villaflor's early bouts' records were not well kept, therefore, although October 1, 1966 appears to have been the date of Villaflor's professional debut, this is not known with certainty, and neither is the location where the fight took place. Villaflor ran a record of twelve wins without a loss, with eight knockouts before he suffered his first loss, against Roger Boy Pedrano, by an eight-round decision in a fight apparently held on July 1, 1967, at the Philippines.

After winning his next fight, he faced Pedrano and again lost by decision, in another fight without much documented data.

Villaflor had his first documented fight on February 1, 1968, at Manila. Villaflor and Rod Sario had a technical draw (tie) after four rounds. Villaflor would have a total of seven draws in his professional boxing career, a relatively large number in that category.

Although Villaflor won nine, lost two and drew two of his next thirteen bouts, his fighting in the Philippines exclusively represented a problem for him to become known overseas. He began the 1970s by losing two ten-round decisions in a row, to Pedro Martinez on March 7, 1970, and to Alfredo Avila, six weeks later.

Villaflor won his next seventeen bouts, however, eleven of them by knockout. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, so he could get more exposure in the United States and the rest of the world. Villaflor liked Honolulu so much that he still lives in the Hawaiian city. He beat Rafael López by a first-round knockout, on April 13, 1971, in what represented both his first fight in Honolulu and also his first fight abroad. He also beat former world champion Raul Cruz, beaten by knockout in ten rounds, November 11, 1971.

On April 25, 1972, Villaflor was given his first opportunity at a world title, when faced with WBA and Lineal Jr. Lightweight champion Alfredo Marcano of Venezuela. Villaflor became world champion by defeating Marcano by a fifteen-round unanimous decision at Honolulu.^[1]

Villaflor then engaged in a series of non-title bouts, including one against Roberto Durán world title challenger Jimmy Robertson, beaten by Villaflor by a ten-round decision on November 15 of that year. Prior to that, he had retained the title with a fifteen-round draw against Victor Echegaray, on September 25.

On March 12, 1973, Villaflor lost his title for the first time, being beaten on points by Japan's Kuniaki Shibata over fifteen rounds in Honolulu. But, after two knockout wins, Villaflor had a rematch with Shibata, also in Honolulu, and he recovered the WBA world Jr. Lightweight championship with a first-round knockout, on October 17, also at Honolulu.

Next for Villaflor was a widely expected fight across Asia, as he met Japan's top rated challenger, Apollo Yoshio, on March 14, 1974, at Toyama. The two boxers fought to a fifteen-round draw. After another non-title win, Villaflor met future world champion Yasutsune Uehara, on August 24 in Honolulu, knocking out Uehara in the second round. After that, Villaflor made his mainland United States debut, when he and perennial challenger Ray Lunny III fought to a six-round technical draw on November 14, a cut on Villaflor's head which had been caused by a headbutt being the determining factor for the fight to end with such result.

Villaflor retained the title twice more, then met Samuel Serrano for the first time, on April 13, 1976, in Honolulu, and the two combatants fought to a fifteen-round draw. The draw was so controversial that the WBA ordered an immediate rematch. After winning a non-title bout by knockout, Villaflor traveled to Puerto Rico for the rematch, held on November 16, at Hiram Bithorn stadium, in San Juan. Serrano outpointed Villaflor over fifteen rounds in what turned out to be Villaflor's last professional bout.

He is currently involved in managing other boxers' careers. Villaflor is the Sergeant At Arms for the Hawaii State Senate,^[2] a position to which he is appointed by a vote of the Senate each year.

Professional boxing record

68 fights	56 wins	6 losses
By knockout	31	0
By decision	25	6
Draws	6

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round(s), time	Date	Age	Location	Notes
68	Loss	56–6–6	Samuel Serrano	UD	15	Oct 16, 1976	23 years, 341 days	Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico	Lost WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
67	Win	56–5–6	Rogelio Castaneda	UD	10	Aug 31, 1976	23 years, 295 days	Blaisdell Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
66	Draw	55–5–6	Samuel Serrano	SD	15	Apr 13, 1976	23 years, 155 days	Blaisdell Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.	Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
65	Win	55–5–5	Morito Kashiwaba	KO	13 (15), 1:29	Jan 12, 1976	23 years, 63 days	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
64	Win	54–5–5	Hyun Chi Kim	SD	15	Mar 13, 1975	22 years, 123 days	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines	Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
63	Draw	53–5–5	Ray Lunny III	TD	6 (10)	Nov 14, 1974	22 years, 4 days	Cow Palace, Daly City, California, U.S.
62	Win	53–5–4	Yasutsune Uehara	KO	2 (15), 1:17	Aug 24, 1974	21 years, 287 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.	Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
61	Win	52–5–4	Takao Maruki	TKO	7 (10), 0:47	Jul 19, 1974	21 years, 251 days	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
60	Draw	51–5–4	Apollo Yoshio	SD	15	Mar 14, 1974	21 years, 124 days	City Gymnasium, Toyama, Japan	Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
59	Win	51–5–3	Kuniaki Shibata	KO	1 (15), 1:56	Oct 17, 1973	20 years, 341 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.	Won WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
58	Win	50–5–3	Akihiro Kawasaki	KO	3 (10), 2:20	Aug 21, 1973	20 years, 284 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
57	Win	49–5–3	Kenji Iwata	KO	1 (10), 2:58	Jul 18, 1973	20 years, 250 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
56	Loss	48–5–3	Kuniaki Shibata	UD	15	Mar 12, 1973	20 years, 122 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.	Lost WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
55	Win	48–4–3	Juan Collado	UD	10	Jan 30, 1973	20 years, 81 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
54	Win	47–4–3	Jimmy Robertson	UD	10	Nov 14, 1972	20 years, 4 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
53	Draw	46–4–3	Victor Federico Echegaray	SD	15	Sep 5, 1972	19 years, 300 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.	Retained WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
52	Win	46–4–2	Carlos Fernandez	TKO	3 (10), 1:37	Jul 5, 1972	19 years, 167 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
51	Win	45–4–2	Alfredo Marcano	UD	15	Apr 25, 1972	19 years, 167 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.	Won WBA and The Ring super featherweight titles
50	Win	44–4–2	Jose Luis Lopez	KO	2 (10), 2:21	Mar 7, 1972	19 years, 118 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
49	Win	43–4–2	Frankie Crawford	TKO	1 (10), 2:52	Jan 25, 1972	19 years, 76 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
48	Win	42–4–2	Ray Vega	KO	7 (10), 1:39	Dec 14, 1971	19 years, 34 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
47	Win	41–4–2	Raul Cruz	TKO	8 (10), 1:42	Nov 16, 1971	19 years, 6 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
46	Win	40–4–2	Ricardo Garcia	UD	10	Sep 28, 1971	18 years, 322 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
45	Win	39–4–2	Tadashi Okamoto	KO	1 (10), 0:50	Sep 14, 1971	18 years, 308 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
44	Win	38–4–2	Manuel Mendoza	UD	10	Aug 10, 1971	18 years, 273 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
43	Win	37–4–2	Memin Hernandez	KO	1 (10), 1:27	Jul 6, 1971	18 years, 238 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
42	Win	36–4–2	Jesus Mariscal	TKO	4 (10), 1:26	Jun 22, 1971	18 years, 224 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
41	Win	35–4–2	Delfino Camacho	TKO	2 (10)	Jun 8, 1971	18 years, 210 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
40	Win	34–4–2	Jose Luis Martinez	KO	5 (10), 1:02	May 18, 1971	18 years, 189 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
39	Win	33–4–2	Memo Morales	TKO	6 (10), 2:37	Apr 26, 1971	18 years, 167 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
38	Win	32–4–2	Rafael Lopez	TKO	1 (10), 1:43	Apr 13, 1971	18 years, 154 days	Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
37	Win	31–4–2	Arturo "Baby" Lorona	PTS	10	Nov 14, 1970	18 years, 4 days	Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
36	Win	30–4–2	Don Johnson	TKO	7 (10)	Sep 19, 1970	17 years, 313 days	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
35	Win	29–4–2	Tony Jumao As	PTS	10	Jul 25, 1970	17 years, 257 days	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
34	Win	28–4–2	Willie Asuncion	PTS	10	Jul 12, 1970	17 years, 244 days	Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
33	Win	27–4–2	Ernie Cruz	PTS	10	Jun 6, 1970	17 years, 208 days	Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
32	Draw	26–4–2	Tony Jumao As	TD	5 (10)	Feb 28, 1970	17 years, 110 days	Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
31	Win	26–4–1	Arturo Eracho	PTS	10	Dec 20, 1969	17 years, 40 days	Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
30	Win	25–4–1	Fil Del Mundo	PTS	10	Oct 4, 1969	16 years, 328 days	Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
29	Win	24–4–1	Marcial Macatangay Jr.	KO	7 (10)	Aug 20, 1969	16 years, 283 days	Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
28	Win	23–4–1	Billy Cangas	PTS	10	Jul 7, 1969	16 years, 239 days	Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
27	Win	22–4–1	Boy Torno	PTS	10	May 1, 1969	16	Philippines	Uncertain of date
26	Win	21–4–1	Baby Paramount	PTS	10	Mar 1, 1969	16	Philippines	Date unknown
25	Win	20–4–1	Carlito Kid	PTS	10	Feb 1, 1969	16	Philippines	Date unknown
24	Loss	19–4–1	Ely Yares	PTS	10	Jul 1, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
23	Win	19–3–1	Flash Barba	KO	8 (?)	Jun 1, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
22	Loss	18–3–1	Baby Paramount	PTS	10	Apr 10, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
21	Win	18–2–1	Tanny Amancio	KO	7 (10)	Apr 1, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
20	Win	17–2–1	Ver Quizon	PTS	10	Mar 1, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
19	Win	16–2–1	Rocky Villahermosa	KO	5 (?)	Feb 10, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
18	Draw	15–2–1	Blackie Olympia	PTS	10	Jan 1, 1968	15	Philippines	Date unknown
17	Win	15–2	Flash Barba	PTS	10	Nov 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
16	Win	14–2	Boy Olayan	PTS	8	Oct 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
15	Loss	13–2	Roger Boy Pedrano	PTS	8	Sep 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
14	Win	13–1	Ben Aranas	KO	8 (?)	Aug 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
13	Loss	12–1	Roger Boy Pedrano	PTS	8	Jul 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
12	Win	12–0	Little Pedring	PTS	6	Jun 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
11	Win	11–0	Young Francisco	KO	3 (?)	May 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
10	Win	10–0	Luis Manuel	PTS	6	Apr 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
9	Win	9–0	Matt Villa	KO	3 (?)	Mar 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
8	Win	8–0	Johnny Lozaga	KO	6 (?)	Feb 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
7	Win	7–0	Eddie Valdez	PTS	6	Jan 1, 1967	14	Philippines	Date unknown
6	Win	6–0	Joe Louis	KO	1 (?)	Dec 10, 1966	14	Philippines	Date unknown
5	Win	5–0	Rocky Romeo	KO	4 (?)	Dec 1, 1966	14	Philippines	Date unknown
4	Win	4–0	Pat Masong	KO	4 (?)	Nov 10, 1966	14	Philippines	Date unknown
3	Win	3–0	Bob Rule	PTS	4	Nov 1, 1966	13	Philippines	Date unknown
2	Win	2–0	Little Timoteo	KO	3 (?)	Oct 10, 1966	13	Philippines	Date unknown
1	Win	1–0	Flash Javier	PTS	4	Oct 1, 1966	13	Zamboanga City, Philippines	Date unknown

Related Research Articles

Samuel Serrano is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1969 to 1984 and made a two-fight comeback from 1996 to 1997. He was a two-time super featherweight world champion, having held the WBA title twice between 1976 and 1983.

Carlos Ortiz was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He held world titles in lightweight and light welterweight weight divisions. Along with Félix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, Wilfredo Gómez, Héctor Camacho, José Torres, Edwin Rosario and Wilfred Benítez, Ortiz is considered among the best Puerto Rican boxers of all time by sports journalists and analysts. As of January 2018, Ortiz holds the record for the most wins in unified lightweight title bouts in boxing history at 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santos Laciar</span> Argentine boxer

Santos Benigno Laciar, known familiarly as Santos Laciar and nicknamed Falucho, is an Argentine who was boxing's world flyweight and super flyweight champion.

Tony Canzoneri was an American professional boxer. A three-division world champion, he held a total of five world titles. Canzoneri is a member of the exclusive group of boxing world champions who have won titles in three or more divisions. Canzoneri fought for championships between bantamweight and light welterweight. Historian Bert Sugar ranked Canzoneri as the twelfth-greatest fighter of all time.

Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo, better known as Kid Chocolate, was a Cuban boxer who enjoyed great success both in the boxing ring and outside it during the 1930s. Chocolate boxed professionally between 1927 and 1938. His record was 136 wins, 10 losses and 6 draws, 51 wins coming by knockout and one no-decision bout, also making Ring magazine's list of boxers with 50 or more career knockout wins. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1991.

Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes between 1995 and 2007, from super bantamweight to super featherweight.

Antonio Cervantes is a Colombian boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1983. He held the WBA and The Ring light welterweight title twice between 1972 and 1980.

Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.

During the 1970s, boxing was characterized by dominating champions and history-making rivalries. The decade had many superstars, who also had fierce rivals. Alexis Argüello, for example, who won the world Featherweight and Jr. Lightweight titles in the '70s, had to overcome Alfredo Escalera twice before the decade was over.

During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who would, in his own words shock the world, declare himself against war, and change his name to Muhammad Ali.

Pernell Whitaker Sr. was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001, and subsequently worked as a boxing trainer. He was a four-weight world champion, having won titles at lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight; the undisputed lightweight title; and the lineal lightweight and welterweight titles. In 1989, Whitaker was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He currently holds the longest unified lightweight championship reign in boxing history at six title defenses. Whitaker is generally regarded as one of the greatest defensive boxers of all-time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguel Canto</span> Mexican boxer

Miguel Angel Canto Solis is a Mexican former world boxing champion who held the WBC and Lineal flyweight titles.

Masahiko Harada, better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 to 1963 and the WBA, WBC, and The Ring undisputed bantamweight titles from 1965 and 1968. He is currently the president of the Japanese boxing association.

Arnold Taylor was a South African boxer who held the Lineal and WBA bantamweight championships in 1973.

Yasutsune Uehara is a former professional boxer and former WBA and lineal super featherweight champion. He is one of the few Japanese boxers to have won the world title fighting outside Japan.

Kuniaki Shibata is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1977. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and The Ring featherweight titles from 1970 to 1972, the WBA and The Ring super-featherweight titles in 1973, and the WBC super-featherweight title from 1974 to 1975.

Alfredo Marcano was a Venezuelan professional boxer who competed from 1966 to 1975. He held the world junior lightweight title.

Enrique "Kiko" Solis is a former boxer from Puerto Rico, who in 1978 challenged Eusebio Pedroza of Panama for Pedroza's WBA's recognized world Featherweight championship. Solis is a member of a prolific Puerto Rican boxing family, his brothers being former WBA and Ring Magazine world Bantamweight champion Julian Solís, former WBC world Junior Lightweight title challenger Rafael Solis and Santos Solis, who once fought Wilfred Benítez as a professional and went ten rounds with him. He is from Caimito, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Jorge Luján is a Panamanian who was a professional boxer and fought many top-flight boxers and several champions during the 1970s and 1980s. Luján is the former Lineal and WBA Bantamweight world champion. He was managed by Aurelio Cortez.

Arturo Leon is a Mexican-American former boxer from Arizona, United States. He was a junior lightweight who once challenged Alexis Arguello for the Nicaraguan's World Boxing Council's world Junior Lightweight title, losing by 15 round unanimous decision.

References

↑ "Ben Villaflor - Lineal Jr. Lightweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Boxing record for Ben Villaflor from BoxRec (registration required)
Villaflor Bio at Ringside Report
Ben Villaflor - CBZ Profile

Sporting positions
World boxing titles
Preceded by Alfredo Marcano	WBA super-featherweight champion April 25, 1972 – March 12, 1973	Succeeded by Kuniaki Shibata
Preceded by Alfredo Marcano	The Ring super-featherweight champion April 25, 1972 – March 12, 1973	Succeeded by Kuniaki Shibata
Preceded by Kuniaki Shibata	WBA super-featherweight champion October 17, 1973 – October 16, 1976	Succeeded by Samuel Serrano
Preceded by Kuniaki Shibata	The Ring super-featherweight champion October 17, 1973 – October 16, 1976	Succeeded by Samuel Serrano

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Ben Villaflor - Lineal Jr. Lightweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.

[2] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

[2]