By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion and Bago City-native ‘King’ Arthur Villanueva is set to take on former IBF junior bantamweight champion Zolani Tete of South Africa in a title eliminator bout today, April 22, at the Manchester Arena in England.
If Villanueva is successful, he next faces Filipino WBO bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales for the world title.
During a recent press conference, Villanueva called Tete a “brilliant fighter,” and is focused on defeating the former world champion. Meanwhile, Tete hopes the Filipino boxer puts up a good fight.
“From what I have seen of him, I can tell he’s a strong fighter and, hopefully, he will put up a good fight against me,” said the South African fighter. “I’m very excited about the fight.”
“I want to be known as one of the best fighters in the world and clean up the rest of the belts, but first, I have to get my hands on the WBO bantamweight title and, to do that, I need to beat Villanueva,” he added./WDJ