Son of a 1932 Olympic bantamweight bronze medalist, José Luis Villanueva, Anthony Villanueva took up boxing at an early age. Nicknamed “Boy” due to his boyish looks, Villanueva was selected to the Philippine national team in 1962 after he had won his only Philippine amateur title. At the 1964 Olympics, Villanueva first defeated Giovanni Girgenti of Italy by split decision, then Tamar Ben Hassan of Tunisia by majority decision and Piotr Gutman by knockout to reach the semifinal against a pre-competition favorite, American Charlie Brown. Villanueva went on to win his semifinal by 4-1 decision and then lost the final to Soviet Stanislav Stepashkin by split decision to became the first Philippine athlete to win an Olympic silver medal. Villanueva turned professional after the Olympics, but with little success, finishing his professional career with a record of 1 win and 3 losses (KO 2). Villanueva then tried his hand in acting, but this career also turned out to be quite unsuccessful after three movies. Later Villanueva worked as a security guard at the Philippine consulate in New York and returned to the Philippines in 1988, where he died in May 2014, penniless and bedridden after several strokes in his last years.
Philippines