How Ilonggo Pancho Villa ‘missed’ the 1924 Olympics

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.” — Scott Hamilton 

A DAY after the closing ceremonies of the 1924 Paris Olympic Games held on May 4-July 27, Ilonggo professional boxer Pancho Villa (Francisco Guilledo) scored a big win against highly touted Frankie Murray in six rounds at Bacharach Ball Park, Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 28, 1924.

Ironically, it was Villa’s fifth straight victories in the United States from May 30 to July 28 while the 1924 Paris Olympic Games were being held 4,647 miles away in France.

If those stunning five wins were registered in the World Olympic Games, Villa could have won the gold medal, the first for the Philippines.

David Nepomuceno, the flag bearer and lone Filipino athlete in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, competed in the men’s 100 meters and 200 meters but did not advance.

It was the first time for the Philippines to appear in the World Summer Olympic Games and the first time a Southeast Asian country competed since the revival of the modern Games in 1896. The ancient Olympic Games had been banned in 393 A.D. by Roman emperor Theodosius I, who considered them pagan festivals and wanted to promote Christianity.

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In the 1924 Paris Olympics, the United States’ Fidel La Barba won the gold in the flyweight division, Pancho Villa’s professional weight category, by defeating Great Britain’s James McKenzie.

Interestingly, La Barba outpointed 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games flyweight gold medalist Frankie Genaro when they fought as professionals in 10 rounds for the American flyweight title in August 1925.

He was the same Genaro who fought against then 23-year-old Villa three times and convincingly out-slugged the popular Ilonggo boxer in all their three encounters in professional boxing.

La Barba, younger by four years to Villa, would have been the Filipino buzzsaw’s perfect foe had Villa joined the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.

Former Philippine President General Emilio Aguinaldo had invited Villa to “come back to us (in the Philippines) and defend your (world flyweight) title here” when Villa became the first Asian to win the world boxing crown via 7th round KO against Jimmy Wilde in New York on June 18, 1923, a year before the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.

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Had Villa accepted Aguinaldo’s invitation, would the influential President General have helped Villa qualify for the Team Philippines in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games?

Villa could have also won the Philippines’ first gold medal had he fought La Barba (72 wins-15 losses-7 draws, 15 KOs in professional), who was orthodox and standing five feet and three inches (unorthodox Villa was five feet and one inch).

A century later, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) officials endorsed Manny Pacquiao’s participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics but was nixed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because the 45-year-old former eight-time world boxing champion and former senator was overage and did not participate in the pre-Olympic Games qualifying tournaments.

At 23, the destructive Villa (90 wins-8 losses-4 draws, 22 KOs) was ripe for the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.

Philippine General Aguinaldo, who had a tiff with the United States when the Americans did not recognize his authority on February 4, 1899, had already pledged allegiance to the US after his capture on March 23, 1901, five months before Villa was born in Ilog, Negros Occidental.

Because of his infatuation with Villa, Philippine General Aguinaldo could have done was the POC officials today failed to do when Pacquiao’s would-be automatic entry in the just-concluded 2024 Paris Olympics was denied.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)