One of the most talked-about young prospects to come out of the amateur ranks, Ruben Villa signed with Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing in July 2016 and quickly established himself as one of the top young featherweights in the sport.
Villa began boxing at age 5, drawing inspiration from Vasyl Lomachenko and Canelo Alvarez. At the 2015 U.S. Olympic Trials he narrowly lost to future Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson, despite having beaten him twice in three prior meetings, and has sparred with lightweight contender Petr Petrov on his way up.