| José Villanueva | |
| Full Name: | José Luis Villanueva |
| Nickname: | Cely |
| Birth Date: | March 19, 1913 |
| Birth Place: | Binondo, Manila |
| Death Place: | Kamuning, Quezon City |
| Sport: | Boxing |
| Universityteam: | FEU |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
José Luis "Cely" Villanueva (March 19, 1913 - November 11, 1983) was an amateur boxer from the Philippines who represented his country at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Born in Binondo, Manila, he won the bronze medal in the bantamweight class after winning the fight for third place against Joseph Lang.
His son, Anthony Villanueva, also became a boxer, and won a silver medal during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Villanueva claimed the Philippines its first Olympic medal in boxing.[1] He gained a bye and bested Japan's Akira Nakao in the quarterfinals. However, his run was cut short after he fell to eventual gold medalist Horace Gwynne of Canada in their semifinal clash. He closed out his campaign with a victory over USA's Joseph Lang in the bronze medal match.[2]
See main article: articles and Boxing at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Bantamweight. Below are the results of boxer José Villanueva who competed for the Philippines as a bantamweight at the 1932 Olympic boxing tournament in Los Angeles:
After the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Villanueva turned pro.[3] There are no records of how his professional boxing career went.[4]
Villanueva later on became a boxing trainer. One of his trained fighters was Gabriel Elorde who won a world 130-pound title and held it for seven years. His son, Anthony Villanueva, also became a boxer, and won a silver medal during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He was one of his son's first trainers.[5] To this day, they are the only Filipino father-and-son duo to win Olympic medals.[6] He also worked as a Malacañang employee until the early 70s.[7]
Villanueva died of a heart attack in 1983.[8]
In 2010, Villanueva and his son Anthony were inducted as part of the Philippine Sports Commission's first batch for their Hall of Fame.[9] In 2021, they were inducted into Far Eastern University's Sports Hall of Fame.[10]