THE week-end just past was surely a busy one for Filipino boxing fans. This was started by a big disappointment when last Friday, Brian Viloria lost to a certified nobody in Omar Nino Romero, in the process giving up the WBC light-flyweight crown in a manner that left many with their mouth hanging down to their chest, not knowing what hit them.
It wasn’t so much the specter of a loss than the way Brian lost the fight that saddened many. Almost to a man,those whom we talked to after the fight felt that Viloria did not display the heart of a champion that night.
Well, from the time he successfully defended the title last February against Jose Antonio Aguirre whom he decisioned in another ho-hum affair, we advanced the theory that Viloria might still be carrying the trauma of having sent Ruben Contreras into a coma after stopping him in the 6th round. Add to that his next victim, Eric Ortiz from whom he wrested the crown after knocking him out cold in the 1st round, where he was supposed to have exclaimed “My God! Did I do it again?’’ It is not far-fetched to surmise that he may now be unconsciously holding back, not wanting to inflict undue harm to his opponent. And you do not need to be an expert to know this just won’t do in a sport such as boxing.
But whatever it is, we hope that he does the right thing for the sake of his future and a Filipino people who have embraced him warmly as a fellow Filipino, although technically, he is an American. Insofar as the issues of his and his team’s intentions in proclaiming his Filipinism, I leave that to their conscience.
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Meanwhile, there was also a lot of excitement when news came out that Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales had finally signed the contract for their rubber match in November now being marketed as “The Grand Finale.’’ Talk that Manny was able to wangle another 0,000 to up his guaranteed purse to a total M, (excluding peripheral income from pay-per-view, gate receipts, merchandising goods, etc.) also served to pump up the adrenaline of the Pacman horde that rejoices vicariously to every bit of good news about their idol.
Certainly it is only fair that Manny gets to be paid more after that scintillating performance in the 2nd Morales-Pacquiao bout where he dealt the Mexican icon his first knock-out defeat. In that fight he supposedly earned M to Erik’s M. And excuse me, now it should be Pacquiao-Morales.
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And just a couple of days ago, another fighter has included his name in the long list of possible Pacquiao challengers (victims?) as Humberto Soto stopped fellow Mexican Ivan Valle in the 4th round of the WBC Super Featherweight eliminator.
Soto is now next in line to get a crack at the title, after the championship fight between current title-holder Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez next month. He has indicated he also wants to get his chance against the Pacman.
In that Barrera-Juarez card by the way, is another Filipino favorite, 19-year-old Rey “Boom-Boom’’ Bautista of Candijay, Bohol who will face veteran Giovanni Andrada of Brazil. It has been sometime since Bautista has been seen in action. He was supposed to have been in the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Oscar Larios last July, but came down with a virus a week before the fight. Bautista has been campaigning with much success in the States also under the wings of Freddie Roach.
It is hoped that with these, plus Diosdado Gabi’s win in the Viloria undercard, the sagging hopes of Filipino boxing fans will be propped up after successive losses by Rodel Mayol, Randy Suico and Rexon Flores in earlier international battles. Just a couple of months ago, fans were full of optimism and verve with the number of Filipinos going up for world titles. After the spate of losses capped by the Viloria debacle, the mood has swung sharply from joyous anticipation to gloomy desperation.
But we’ve got a fresh batch coming in, so let’s go one more time around the block… this time, with feeling!
