José Luis "Cely" Villanueva (March 19, 1913 – November 11, 1983) was an amateur

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 ...

from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

who represented his country at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Born in

Binondo Binondo (; ) is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Manila, Quiapo, Santa Cruz, Manila, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas, Manila, San Nicolas and Tondo, Manila, Tondo. ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, he won the bronze medal in the bantamweight class after winning the fight for third place against Joseph Lang. His son, Anthony Villanueva, also became a boxer, and won a silver medal during the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

Amateur career

At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Villanueva claimed the Philippines its first Olympic medal in boxing. He gained a bye and bested Japan's

Akira Nakao was a Japanese actor, television personality, and artist from Kisarazu, Chiba. He was represented by the Furutachi Project agency. Biography Nakao attended Chiba Prefectural Kisarazu High School from 1958, and entered Musashino Art University ...

in the quarterfinals. However, his run was cut short after he fell to eventual gold medalist Horace Gwynne of Canada in their semifinal clash. He closed out his campaign with a victory over USA's Joseph Lang in the bronze medal match.

1932 Olympic results

Below are the results of boxer José Villanueva who competed for the Philippines as a bantamweight at the 1932 Olympic boxing tournament in Los Angeles: * Round of 16: bye * Quarterfinal: defeated

(Japan) on points * Semifinal: lost to Horace Gwynne (Canada) on points * Bronze Medal Bout: won by walkover over Joseph Lang (USA)

Professional career

After the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Villanueva turned pro. There are no records of how his professional boxing career went.

Later life

Villanueva later on became a boxing trainer. One of his trained fighters was

Gabriel Elorde Gabriel "Flash" Elorde (March 25, 1935 – January 2, 1985) was a Filipino professional boxer. He won the lineal super featherweight title in 1960. In 1963, he won the inaugural WBC and WBA super featherweight titles. He holds the record at sup ...

who won a world 130-pound title and held it for seven years. His son, Anthony Villanueva, also became a boxer, and won a silver medal during the

. He was one of his son's first trainers. To this day, they are the only Filipino father-and-son duo to win Olympic medals. He also worked as a Malacañang employee until the early 70s. Villanueva died of a heart attack in 1983.

Legacy

In 2010, Villanueva and his son Anthony were inducted as part of the Philippine Sports Commission's first batch for their Hall of Fame. In 2021, they were inducted into Far Eastern University's Sports Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* * * * 1913 births 1983 deaths Olympic boxers for the Philippines Boxers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Philippines Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Filipino male boxers People from Binondo Boxers from Manila Bantamweight boxers Philippine Sports Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Filipino sportsmen {{Philippines-Olympic-medalist-stub