ARTHUR Villanueva failed in his third bid at a world championship and is contemplating on hanging up his gloves.
Villanueva suffered a seventh-round stoppage against World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight king Nordine Oubaali on Saturday night, July 6, 2019, at the Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
“I think this will be my last fight. I surrendered in the seventh round,” Villanueva told SunStar Cebu.
Oubaali dropped Villanueva in the sixth round. Although Villanueva survived the sixth round, he quit on his stool going into the seventh round.
“I felt that I had nothing left,” said Villanueva. “I didn’t have a hard time against my opponent but I felt that my body had nothing left to fight.”
Villanueva admitted that he went through a lot in the buildup to the fight. He had an eye operation in the last week of May that prevented him from sparring.
“I went through a lot of problems before this fight,” he said. “I had a cyst removed above my eye in the last week of May.”
Villanueva dropped his third world title fight after losing previously to McJoe Arroyo in 2015 and Zolani Tete in 2017.
Villanueva dropped to 32-4-1 with 18 knockouts, while the 32-year-old Oubaali remained unbeaten at 16-0 with 12 knockouts.
At just 30 years old with 35 pro fights under his belt, Villanueva still seems to have a lot left. However, he thinks the result of the fight will dictate his future in the sport.
“I’ll still talk to sir ALA (Antonio Lopez Aldeguer) on what to do next,” he said.
If ever Villanueva decides to really retire, he said he wants to stay in the sport of boxing as a trainer. (EKA)