ACHIEVEMENTS
Olympics
Hall of Fame
BIOGRAPHY
Born on March 18, 1945, Olympic boxing medalist Anthony Villanueva proved himself more than being in the shadow of his father’s name.
He started his journey in boxing at a very young age, being trained by his father Jose Villanueva, who delivered the country’s first Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles in 1932.
During his amateur career, Anthony won his only national title in 1962, that thrusted his way to qualify for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
In the 1964 Olympics, he lost to Soviet boxer Stanislav Stepashkin in the gold medal match by split decision, giving the Philippines its first-ever silver medal in the Games.
After the Olympics, Villanueva turned to professional boxing. His debut in professional boxing was for a fund-raising event in 1965, arranged by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.
Anthony then turned to acting, starring in five movies, one of which is with former President of the Philippines and actor Joseph Estrada in the movie “Malakas, Kaliwa’t Kanan”.
He then ventured to the United States where he worked as a security guard in Staten Island and the Philippine Consulate in New York City.
He also worked in private gyms as a boxing coach. Later on, he moved back to the Philippines in 1988 and served as a national boxing coach for the boxing delegates for the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Anthony passed away in 1999 after suffering multiple complications which include kidney malfunction and severe heart ailments.
He was inducted into the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame, in the same batch as his father in 2010.
created with