In 2012, when she was 16, Villegas began her amateur career, joining the
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) National Open in
Tagbilaran City. It was at this tournament that she was scouted by former Olympian and Asian Games gold medalist
Violito Payla, who then brought her to Manila to train with the national team. For the
2022 edition in Turkey, she was forced to move to the -50kg division after her previous class was scrapped. In 2021, the
Philippine Olympic Committee named Villegas as a beneficiary of the Olympics Solidarity Scholarship Grant by the
International Olympic Committee. She has also competed at the
2022 Asian Games which was held in September 2023 in Hangzhou, China. Villegas is also a
Southeast Asian Games medalist, having won a bronze in the
2019 edition organized in the Philippines. Villegas qualified for the
2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, by winning the quota bouts round, of the women's flyweight division, at the
2024 World Olympic Qualification Tournament 1 in
Busto Arsizio, Italy. At the Olympics, she won a bronze medal after losing to Turkish boxer
Buse Naz Çakıroğlu in the semi-finals. == Personal life ==