Piñol pulls out Villanueva in title fight vs Dib

The fight between World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental featherweight champion Lorenzo Villanueva of Midsayap, North Cotabato, Philippines and former title challenger Billy Dib of Sydney, Australia has been scrapped. This was according to Villanueva's manager, former North Cotabato governor Manny Piñol, who said that a disagreement between their camp and Australian promoter Peter Maniatis had them pulling out of the fight. Piñol said the setup with regards the referees and judges is one of the reasons why they had a falling-out that led to the cancellation of the scheduled 12-round title defense bid of Villanueva. "The promoters of Billy Dib scrapped the fight because I asked for a neutral referee and one Filipino judge since it is a WBO Oriental championship," Piñol told BoxingScene. "I eventually settled for a respected Australian judge – Brad Vocale – provided there would be one Filipino referee, but they turned it down. "They said it would cost them too much. Maybe they also realized that Villanueva would be a dangerous opponent for Dib." Piñol also lamented Maniatis's intentions on changing the venue and date from the original March 12 in Perth, Australia to March 5 in Sydney, where he fears a hometown decision might benefit Dib. Piñol did concede that the cancellation may end up working in their favor. "The scrapping of the fight could also be good because I also see the Dib fight as a difficult one for Villanueva, with very little beneficial value to Lorenzo's boxing career." No alternate opponent has been announced for the 25-year-old Lorenzo, who holds an unbeaten record of 18 wins with 17 knockouts. Dib, also 25, challenged Steven Luevano for the WBO featherweight title in 2008 and stands at 30-1 with 18 knockouts as a professional. – Ryan Songalia, JVP, KY, GMANews.TV Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMANews.TV and the Filipino Reporter newspaper. From January through April, he will cover the Daily News Golden Gloves tournament for the New York Daily News. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia.