AFTER a long 16-hour trip, “King” Arthur Villanueva finally arrived in Leicester, England, United Kingdom yesterday for his much-anticipated world title eliminator against former IBF Superfly world champion Zolani Tete of Africa on Sunday (Manila time).
Accompanied by ALA Boxing Gym trainers Edito Villamor and Robert Eturma, Villanueva — the reining WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight champion with 30 wins, 16 by knockouts, one loss with no draw — said the long travel had no ill effects as he expressed readiness against Tete.
The fight is finally pushing through after two schedule changes.
“I just had to make adjustments in my training and I can say is that I am very ready to face Tete,” Villanueva told Cebu Daily News. “Fortunately, I did not encounter problems during my very long training camp and I am also very thankful that even though I am very exhausted from the travel, when I woke up this morning, I felt rejuvenated and recharged.”
Villanueva, a 28-year-old native of Bago City, Negros Occidental, isn’t new to dealing with long trips as he has already fought in the United States (US), Dubai, UAE and Japan.
Villanueva’s last fight abroad was in the US where he lost to Mcjoe Arroyo via a controversial technical decision.
Villanueva and Tete (24W-3L-0D-20KOs) will be fighting to earn the right to face Filipino WBO bantamweight champion Marlon “Nightmare” Tapales, who is also set to defend the title on April 23 in Osaka, Japan against Shohei Omori.