FILIPINO boxer Arthur Villanueva is set to make his ring return. He faces veteran Renren Tesorio in the undercard of Pinoy Pride 44 tonight at the Maasin City Gym in Maasin City.
It will be the first fight of the Bago City, Negros Occidental native since suffering a technical knockout defeat in the hands of Mexican Luis Nery in November 2017.
According to ALA Boxing Promotions’ Michael Aldeguer, the fight against Tesorio is important for Villanueva to win; it would boost his confidence.
“He (Villanueva) has to win to be on track and to be considered for world title clash,” said Aldeguer. “I know he wants to have another shot at a world title so I know he prepared hard for Renren.”
The 29-year-old Villanueva, a two-time world title challenger, sports an impressive 31-3-0 win-loss-draw ring record. The Negrense boxer attained 17 of his victories by way of stoppages.
Villanueva has won 27 straight fights before suffering his first defeat in the hands of McJoe Arroyo for the vacant IBF world super flyweight title in 2015 in the United States via a controversial technical decision.
Tesorio, a former Philippine light flyweight champion, will be parading a 16-12-3 win-loss-draw slate with four stoppage wins. He came from a win against Japanese Kyota Otsuka last March.
The Villanueva-Tesorio clash will be one of the undercards of Albert Pagara’s match against Laryea Gabriel Odoi of Ghana for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super flyweight title.
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For the first time, the Philippines will serve as host of the Asian Onroad Championship whose second round this year will be held at the Bacolod Central District Speedway (beside Robinson’s Place Bacolod).
Around 80 racers from across the Asian region and some parts of the world have gathered in Bacolod City for the three-day event, which started on Friday and will last until June 10.
The onroad racing scene has grown at record numbers in the Philippines. And, that from the early days of Pro 10 Cars and 1/12th Scale to Touring cars and F-1, there has always been a love for On Road.
Years ago, the event made a world caliber affair in Las Vegas and through the years it has grown to be a great show.
Later, the Euro Touring Series was introduced and that also has grown to be a great series that brings everyone together to share in our passion for on road racing.
The AOC will be a group of events that travel around Asia and each year bringing a fun and exciting series to racers and helping sponsors expose their brands to new customers.
On Road racing is extremely strong in Asia and the roots of many of the companies that design and manufacture cars and parts are located within Asia making this the perfect place to make an exciting championship.
The 6th season of the AOC kicked off last April 5-7 at the RCI V2 Raceway in Shanghai, China. Round 3 will be staged in Australia in July followed by South Korea on September and Japan on October./PN
