By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

Former IBF junior bantamweight champion Zolani Tete of South Africa defeated WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion and Bago City-native ‘King’ Arthur Villanueva via unanimous decision over the weekend in a title eliminator bout at the Manchester Arena in England.
Following the fight, Villanueva thanked his supporters and said, “I tried my best to win the fight.”
The loss marks the second defeat in his career.
Meanwhile, the fight was originally planned in order to determine a challenger for then-WBO bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales. However, the Filipino fighter was stripped of the title after missing weight prior to his defense against Shohei Omori in Japan./WDJ