Artie Pelullo Sees a Very Big Future For Ruben Villa

By Steve Kim

Earlier this week it was announced by Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing the signing of heralded amateur Ruben Villa. Villa will be making his pro debut on Friday night from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, where he faces Gerardo Molina.

Artie Pelullo, the head of Banner Promotions is bullish on this featherweights future.

"Ruben is a young guy that I met about a year ago, he has two wins over Shakur Stevenson. He lost to him in the finals of the Olympic Box-offs because he was having killer troubles making the weight,"said the veteran promoter.

"He's a two-time national Golden Gloves champion and he fights like a pro. I've got a lot of people in the amateurs who when I asked about him said he's the real deal.

"So we think he has a great future, he's just 19 years old."

The plan is to keep the native of Salinas, California, active early on.

"We're going to put him on whatever ShoBox dates we get and we're going to put on the undercard of 'Showtime Championship Boxing' underneath Demetrius Andrade because this is the real deal,"Pelullo tells BoxingScene.com

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.