Ben Villaflor vs. Sammy Serrano (1st meeting)
Ben Villaflor 129 lbs drew with Samuel Serrano 130 lbs by SD in round 15 of 15
- Date: 1976-04-13
- Location: Blaisdell Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
- Referee: Wilbert Minn 70-70
- Judge: Walter Cho 73-69
- Judge: Tamotsu Tomihara 67-72
"Heavily favored Ben Villaflor of the Philippines saved his world jr. lightweight championship Tuesday night when he eked out a draw in his 15-round title fight with the jabbing, dancing, counter-punching Sammy Serrano of Puerto Rico. The tall and long-reaching Serrano built up an early lead with his hit-and-run tactics that befuddled Villaflor. It was not until the Filipino champion suffered a cut eye in the 13th round that he turned loose with a barrage of lefts and rights that gave him the final rounds and the draw which entitled him to retain his championship. There were no knockdowns and the only blood drawn came in the 13th when Villaflor suffered a cut in the same eye which underwent surgery for a detached retina last year." -United Press International
- Unofficial UPI scorecard - 70-69 Serrano
- Attendance - 5,031
- Purses: Villaflor - $100,000, Serrano - $10,000
- It was reported that promoter Sam Ichinose lost $35,000 on the promotion
Post-fight comments
- "Judge Cho must have had one eye closed and the other on Villaflor. But Villaflor didn't score enough to win the fight." -Angelo Dundee, Serrano's cornerman
- "I don't know how they ever gave Serrano so many points. All he did was hit and run." -Tony Rodriques, Villaflor's cornerman