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Philippines, 18 Mar 2026 |
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MAKE ROOM FELLOWS, THERE?S A NEW TRAINER IN TOWN By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Mon, 19 Nov 2012  Many fans probably did not even notice the young man at Brian Viloria?s corner last night at the LA Sports Arena when he beat a very game Tyson Marquez to unify the WBA and WBO flyweight titles. That is because he was not as loud as Robert Garcia, the trainer of Tyson Marquez. For the record, that young man is the rising star from the Philippines, Marvin Somodio. Somodio is an ex-fighter who turned into a trainer for expediency. So far, he has proven that the move was a good one. Somodio was spotted by hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach when he was training Manny Pacquiao at a gym in Baguio. Convinced that the kid has a great potential, Roach got him to go with him to LA and help out at his Wildcard Gym. Somodio did not disappoint. He was like a sponge and he took in everything he observes at the Wildcard, much to the delight of Freddie Roach. After helping out training some of the guys at the Wildcard, Somodio finally was given a big break, an assignment so to speak. He was tasked to train the WBO champion Brian Viloria. Somodio quietly took the job. He toiled with Viloria daily as the champion went about his preparation against Hernan Tyson Marquez. His job was not easy given the fact that he was all of a sudden in the middle of a huge fight. But he diligently went about it with great professionalism and a heap full of hard work, Freddie Roach style. I have spoken many times with Somodio and the kid was always so modest about his new found fame. ?Katulong lang po ako sa mga sikat sa Wildcard,? (I am just a helper of the stars at Wildcard) he would humbly say. But his humble demeanor hid his true skills. Viloria is so impressed with him that it encouraged him to work even harder. They quickly became a working team. During the fight, there was a very obvious difference in the coaching style of Somodio and Robert Garcia. Garcia was loud. He incessantly shouted instructions to his fighter as he observed from his corner position. In fact, he is so loud that it sometimes got irritating. But then again, that was his style of coaching. Somodio, on the other hand was virtually invisible. He was very quiet but very observant as to what is happening in the ring. After the bell, he would slip inside the ring and talked to Viloria about what he has observed. He would go about it very quietly. He never raised his voice or yell aloud to his fighter seated on the stool. His easy going demeanor obviously added to the confidence of his fighter. And in the end it paid off handsomely. After the fight, the ringside photographers who were up on the apron had to prod him to stay close to Viloria so they can take a photo of him with his fighter. Even in victory he was still shy and humble. Photo: Brian Viloria (R) poses with his trainer Marvin Somodio after Saturday's victory against Tyson Marquez. Photo by Dr Ed de la Vega. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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