WHILE MOST of us were jubilant at and convinced of the victory of Fil-Am Brian Viloria in his defense of his WBC light-flyweight crown, not a few were anxious to find out why he was unable to dispose of Jose Antonio Aguirre in abbreviated fashion as expected.
Aguirre was coming off back-to-back TKO losses to Roberto Vasquez and Eric Ortiz, the same guy Brian air-mailed to dreamland in the very first round of their fight last September at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Already 30 years old, many thought Aguirre was just an easy assignment for Viloria, despite the Mexican’s impressive record while fighting in the Minimumweight division.
A few days after the fight, it was revealed that Viloria actually suffered a hair-line fracture in his right hand during the fight, which might have affected his performance. But it was early on in the fight when people started noticing that there was not much footwork from the usually speedy Viloria, and he was taking punishment while against the ropes.
Quinito Henson, who was at ringside with Manny Pacquiao to annotate the fight for Filipino televiewers, was our guest on our radio show on Sports Radio 918 yesterday, and he advances his own theory on the uncharacteristic showing of the Hawaiian (or is it Pinoy?) Punch. He suspects Brian might have over-trained and went up that ring burned out. The Viloria camp, including Brian’s dad Ben and his trainer Freddie Roach denies this, but Quinito feels the tell-tale signs were there.
Brian, who is a natural flyweight (112 lbs) weighed in at 107 lbs the day before the fight and took a lot of punches from Aguirre as he was backed up against the ropes. Roach said Viloria purposely did that to get a chance to deliver a counter-punch. But that did not happen in the several instances when Aguirre cornered him. Quinito feels it was because he was already spent after giving it his all in the first round, where he went for a knock-out.
Whether indeed it was burn-out, or as we thought out aloud in a previous column, that Brian might have subconsciously held back, fearing a repeat of his win over Ruben Contreras where his opponent hovered near death, we are just happy that he was able to survive that acid test against Aguirre.
Many have been pinning their hopes on Brian facing the flamboyant Jorge Arce, the much sought-after flyweight, against whom he could figure in a megabuck deal. But it looks like there are some kinks that need to be ironed out.
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Congratulations to Juvic Pagunsan, the newest Filipino professional golfing sensation, for winning the tournament held in honor of Don Pocholo Razon, patriarch of the Razon clan which controls the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI). Pagunsan won The Country Club Invitational Championship in dramatic fashion, besting a Filipino golfing icon, no less than Frankie Mi?oza in a sudden death play-off.
This is exactly what the doctor ordered for Philippine golf. Pagunsan is a swash-buckling young man who has rendered valuable service to his country as a celebrated amateur for many years, and in his first-ever tournament as a pro in the Philippines, bagged the R1.2M champion’s prize. With his talent, Juvic is expected to come up with more sizzling performances, which would certify him as the star that Philippine golf has been awaiting to prop up the sport.
Credit should also be given to Mr. Ricky Razon, who has staged the tournament for the Filipino pros the past four years with no thought of profit, but to give local golf professionals an opportunity to show their wares and hone their skills. Razon was also the “godfather” of golf in the last Southeast Asian Games where he shouldered expenses for the Filipino athletes’ campaign and hosted the tournament also at the exclusive The Country Club in Canlubang Laguna.
Would that more sports benefactors emerge who will selflessly give of themselves for the cause of sports in this country.
