Villa began his boxing career in 1919, winning various titles in the Philippines. Within a few months of his arrival in the United States, he knocked out the American flyweight champion, Johnny Buff (John Lesky), in the 11th round of a nontitle fight on Sept. 15, 1922. Villa won the world flyweight championship by knocking out Jimmy (“Mighty Atom”) Wilde (Wilde, Jimmy) of Wales in the seventh round on June 18, 1923. He made several title defenses before his last fight, a nontitle bout on July 4, 1925, when he lost a 10-round decision (a fight whose outcome is determined by judges' scoring) to Irish-born Canadian Jimmy McLarnin. Ten days later, Villa died from blood poisoning caused by an infected gum where one of his wisdom teeth had been removed just before the fight. He had a record of 73 wins (22 by knockouts), 5 losses, 4 draws, and 23 no decisions (a common result in boxing's early days). Villa was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994.

Villa was the son of a field labourer and was orphaned at an early age. In revenge for an assault on his sister, he killed one of the owners of the estate on which he worked and was afterward forced to flee to the mountains, where he spent his adolescence as a fugitive.

In 1909 Villa joined Francisco Madero (Madero, Francisco)'s uprising against the dictator of Mexico, Porfirio Díaz (Díaz, Porfirio). During the rebellion, Villa, who lacked a formal education but had learned to read and write, displayed his talents as soldier and organizer. Combined with his intimate knowledge of the land and the people of northern Mexico, these gifts enabled him to place at Madero's disposal a division of trained soldiers under his command. After the success of the revolution, Villa remained in the irregular army.

Rivalry between Villa and Carranza, however, soon led to a break between the two, and Villa was forced to flee Mexico City with the revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata (Zapata, Emiliano) in December 1914. Badly defeated by Carranza in a series of battles, he and Zapata fled to the mountains of the north. But in order to demonstrate that Carranza did not control northern Mexico, Villa executed some 17 U.S. citizens at Santa Isabel in January 1916 and two months later attacked Columbus, New Mexico, killing about 17 Americans. President Woodrow Wilson (Wilson, Woodrow) then sent an expedition under General John J. Pershing (Pershing, John J) to that area, but, because of Villa's popularity and intimate acquaintance with the terrain of northern Mexico and because of the Mexican government's dislike of Pershing's presence on Mexican soil, it proved impossible to capture Villa.

Villa continued his guerrilla activities as long as Carranza remained in power. After the overthrow of Carranza's government in 1920, Villa was granted a pardon and a ranch near Parral, Chihuahua, in return for agreeing to retire from politics. Three years later he was assassinated on his ranch.