Benedicto Villablanca (born July 13, 1957) is a former professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who came close to becoming

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's first

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

world champion. Villablanca was born in Villarrica,

. He became interested in boxing as a child. He started visiting his local boxing gym, and had a stellar amateur career. At the age of 18, Villablanca started his career as a professional boxer, when he defeated Luis Conejeros by a decision in four rounds, on January 23, 1976, in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. Villablanca obtained his first

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

during his second fight, beating Luis Arriagada in the second round on February 20, also in Santiago. After two more victories, Villablanca was defeated for the first time, when he lost an eight-round decision to Juan Ule Castro on April 30, 1977 in Chiloé. He would lose his next fight, to Leopoldo Vargas, on May 7. After those two consecutive losses, Villablanca won one fight, then faced Vargas in a rematch, held on August 20, at

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...

. Villablanca suffered his first knockout loss, being beaten by Vargas in the seventh round. After that loss, Villablanca embarked on a four fight winning streak. The first of those bouts, held on April 7, 1978, was for the Chilean Jr. Lightweight title. Villablanca became national champion by knocking Roberto Diaz out in the first round. On January 20, 1979, Villablanca had his first fight as a professional abroad, when he faced Victor Etchegaray for the South American Jr. Lightweight championship in

Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro Province, Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Villablanca lost to Etchegaray, then a world ranked challenger, by knockout in round eight. Back in Chile, Villablanca retained his Chilean Jr. Lightweight title with a victory over Diaz in a rematch, on March 3, 1979, by knockout in the eighth round. Like his first victory over Diaz, this represented the beginning of another four fight winning streak for Villablanca. He faced Etchegaray for the South American Jr. Lightweight title for a second time on June 8, 1980, losing by a seventh-round knockout in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, Argentina. Villablanca then embarked in an eleven fight winning streak, which included a twelve-round decision over Luis Bendezu on August 7, 1981, which made him the WBA's Fedelatin Jr. Lightweight champion. The victory over Bendezu also allowed Villablanca to become a ranked challenger in the Jr. Lightweight division. He also defeated Raul Silva, who had come off back to back losses to

Eusebio Pedroza Eusebio Pedroza (March 2, 1956 – March 1, 2019) was a Panamanian boxer who held the WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any other boxer in featherwe ...

and

Wilfredo Gómez Wilfredo Gómez RiveraJulio Hernandez, who had also lost to Gómez in a WBC world Super Bantamweight championship try, by knockout in round three, on February 2, 1982. After one more win, Villablanca had his first world title try. His fight against

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Samuel Serrano Samuel Serrano (born November 17, 1952) 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 ...

, it could be said, was both the defining moment of Villablanca's career and one of the most controversial championship fights of the 1980s. On June 5 in Santiago, four months after his victory over Julio Hernandez, Villablanca challenged Serrano, for the WBA's world Jr. Lightweight title. Serrano started bleeding during round six, and the fight's referee declared that Serrano's cut was the product of a punch by Villablanca. When the fight was stopped in round eleven due to Serrano's cut, Villablanca was declared winner, and new WBA world Jr. Lightweight champion, by an eleventh-round knockout. For some period afterwards, Villablanca became a national hero among his countrymen and women, just like

Martin Vargas Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

had. Villablanca and his compatriots thought that Villablanca had earned Chile's first world boxing championship. Serrano's team appealed the fight's result, however, claiming that the cut on Serrano's head was caused by a headbutt, not a punch. The WBA then held an emergency meeting in

Panama City, Panama Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, to review the fight's tapes. After studying the fight, WBA officials concluded that Serrano and his team were right and the cut was produced by a headbutt. The WBA took into account the fact that Serrano was ahead on the judges' scorecards and reversed the fight's result, giving Serrano an eleventh round technical decision win. It shall be mentioned that the WBA's ruling in this case disqualified Villablanca as world champion, so Villablanca is not, officially speaking, recognized as a former world boxing champion. After the disappointment of seeing his world champion status disappear, Villablanca returned to professional boxing with three consecutive victories, including a ten-round decision over

Geronimo Luque Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

. On August 17, 1983, Villablanca made his

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debut, when he challenged

Roger Mayweather Roger Mayweather (April 24, 1961 – March 17, 2020) was an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1999. He was a two-division world champion, having held the WBA and ''The Ring'' super featherweight ti ...

for the WBA world Jr. Lightweight title that Mayweather had earned by knocking Serrano out in eight rounds at

. There would be no controversy this time around, however, as Villablanca was dropped twice before the fight ended just as the bell rang to finish round one, with Mayweather retaining the title by a first-round knockout. Villablanca announced his retirement from boxing after the fight, but he returned soon afterwards. In his first comeback fight, Villablanca faced

Orlando Romero Orlando Romero (born March 3, 1960 in Trujillo, Peru) is a former boxing, boxer from Peru. Nicknamed "Romerito" he was one of South America's top ranked lightweights during the 1980s. Professional boxing career Orlando Romero began his professi ...

, losing a ten-round decision on January 14, 1984 in

Trujillo, Peru Trujillo (; qu, Truhillu) is a city in coastal northwestern Peru and the capital of the Department of La Libertad. It is the third most populous city and center of the List of metropolitan areas of Peru, third most populous metropolitan area of P ...

. On May 19, he fought in Peru once again, losing in a rematch with Geronimo Luque for the WBC Continental Americas Lightweight title in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, by a knockout in round seven. Villablanca won his next four bouts, but, after losing on December 20, 1985 to

Ricardo Toledo Ricardo Toledo is a Costa Rican politician and a member of the Christian democratic Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC). He was their candidate for president in the 2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Election ...

by a knockout in three rounds in Santiago, he retired from professional boxing for good. Villablanca had a professional record of 34 wins and 11 losses in 45 fights, with 16 wins by knockout.boxer: Benedicto Villablanca
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Villablanca, Benedicto 1957 births Living people Chilean male boxers People from Villarrica