A last-minute change in a major fight card at the Grand Olympic Auditorium provided fans a chance to witness a young Filipino-American fighter named Brian Viloria wake up the crowd with a sizzling two-fisted attack against ranked-contender Angel Priolo.
“That’s the fight that actually put me on the map,” said Viloria, a former U.S. Olympian and current WBC junior flyweight title-holder.
With a lightning combination punctuated by a right hand, Viloria stopped a much taller Priolo in the seventh round and became yet another of a long list of Filipino fighters whose speed and power have come to hypnotize Los Angeles boxing fans.
Now the world gets another chance to see Viloria and his lightning fists as he defends his world title against Mexico’s former world champion Jose Antonio Aguirre (33-4-1) at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday. The fight will be televised on pay-per-view.
It was December 2004 when Viloria was informed that a planned Las Vegas match had evaporated once again.
“It put a lot more strain on my career. I laid off for a couple of days then three days before that fight happened they called me up and said ‘there’s this fight on HBO Latino, are you ready,'” Viloria, 25, recalled.
Viloria’s management team was unconvinced the Hawaiian import was prepared to tangle with the 5-8 tall Colombian flyweight boxer, who hadn’t lost in six years.
“I could never be more ready I said. I was ready for a fight last week. I accepted that fight,” Viloria (18-0, 12 KOs) said of that discussion. “My team was like, it’s going to be a gamble – you’re fighting a much bigger guy, a more experienced guy, but we’re going to see where you are right now.”
More than 2,000 fight fans witnessed yet another good Filipino fighter, like so many others who had graced the Olympic Auditorium ring since the late 1920s. Fighters like Speedy Dado, Ceferino Garcia, Andy Ganigan and many others had eagerly tangled with the best fighters in that arena. Now here was the 21st century version.
It was the semi-main event as Viloria entered the ring on Dec. 16, 2004.
“Going into that arena I was really nervous,” said Viloria, who now makes Los Angeles his home base. “It was so intimate. I had never fought in a place where every seat in the house was like the best seat in the house.”
The hardcore boxing fans sat up in their seats a little straighter; they knew that Viloria was receiving his big test. He didn’t disappoint.
From the opening bell, the 5-4 in stature Viloria unleashed a blurring combination that connected mostly on Priolo’s gloves, but the sound of the impact and the speed of his blows let the audience know that something special was happening.
“I’ve only seen a few fighters who could fire punches like that,” said Johnny Pinto, 72, a boxing fan who’s seen Los Angeles prizefighters perform since 1948. “The last one was Francisco Panchito Bojado.”
Viloria’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said it was time to see if his fighter should remain in the boxing world or quit.
“Brian always had the tools,” said Roach. “It was just a matter of getting a chance to do it against better competition.”
Viloria dropped Priolo in the third and seventh rounds as the Los Angeles fight crowd wildly cheered for the young Filipino bomber.
“It was kind of special to me, I knew a lot of good fights were held there,” said Viloria.
Carry on the torch In his last bout, Viloria fought for the world title against Mexico City’s Eric Ortiz, who held the WBC junior flyweight title. Many were expecting a tactical battle that would go into the later rounds.
Viloria immediately knocked down Ortiz with a left hook, then finished him off with a blazing set of rights and lefts that prompted many of the more than 10,000 people at the Staples Center to gasp at the finality.
“He looks like he can go up a few divisions and win a title,” said Pinto, who attended Viloria’s three last bouts.
This Saturday, Viloria meets the man who lost his title to Ortiz. It doesn’t make a difference to the Filipino boxer.
“The most foolish thing I can do is just overlook this guy and say I beat the guy that beat him,” said Viloria of his next opponent, the heavy-hitting Aguirre.
A group of former Filipino boxers like Ganigan, Jesus Salud and Luisito Espinosa expect him to carry on the torch of their great fighting tradition.
“I have a few friends that actually know Filipino boxers like Jesus Salud, Andy Ganigan and Luisito Espinosa – guys that came out here and fought in California in LA. They tell me you’ve got to grab the bull by the horn and just ride it through,” Viloria said before training in the Wild Card Gym.
Because Viloria performs at the smaller 108-pound division, he knows that few aside from the avid boxing fans follow his weight class. He has an antidote: “you have to show the people what they want to see. A win can’t just be a win any more. You have to make it exciting every fight and make every fight count. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
