THE DAY before the fight, Freddie Roach said the strategy was for WBC light-flyweight Champion Brian Viloria to be aggressive and take the fight to challenger Omar Ni?o Romero in their championship bout at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday morning (Manila time).
As early as the first round, it looked like Viloria was not “in” on the plan.
The “Hawaiian Punch” was bland, with no zing to his moves against a handpicked opponent who got his No. 10 ranking via the backdoor. The champion was tentative and seemed unable to launch a counter-attack as Romero bored in time again. In the process, Viloria lost the crown in only his second defense.
Throughout the 12-round championship fight, Viloria was outboxed by the 30-year old Mexican, who was supposed to have been a warm-up before the transplanted Ilocano moved on to the bigger fights against marquee flyweights like Jorge Arce, Ivan Calderon and the new Japanese sensation WBA champion Koki Kameda.
Time and again, Romero initiated the action and Viloria fans were aghast at the inability (reluctance?) of the champion to deliver counter punches and to wrest control of the fight. Boos were heard at the venue indicating the crowd’s displeasure at Viloria’s refusal to mix it up.
Based on the Filipino-Hawaiian’s previous performances and undefeated record, he should have been able to handle his opponent who is five years older and whose two career losses were by knock-out, one at the hands of Gilberto Kelb Baas, whom Viloria sent to dreamland in 11 rounds two years ago.
Instead, Brian played a waiting game. But whatever it he was waiting for did not come and Romero struck at every opportunity throwing more punches and hitting the target more accurately against what looked like the half-hearted efforts of Viloria.
Some observers are now bringing up the question on whether Brian stills carries the mental baggage of having almost caused the death of another boxer, Ruben Contreras, whom he knocked out and sent to the hospital in serious condition early last year. When he knocked out Eric Ortiz to wrest the crown last September and saw Ortiz out cold, he was reported to have blurted out, “Oh my God, did I do it again?”
In his first defense last February, he dished out a so-so performance against an obviously inferior opponent in Jose Antonio Aguirre; although one good enough to win by unanimous decision. A hairline fracture in his right hand, sustained in the third round was pointed as the culprit.
But his showing against Romero, on whose unsuspecting lap he dropped a championship belt, raises serious questions as to whether he really has the heart necessary in a merciless sport as boxing.
Viloria has always struck everyone he has met as a regular nice guy. And he looked like the nice guy in the ring yesterday. Obviously, that is not what is needed in his brutal sport.
Viloria has an important choice to make – to build up his fighter’s instincts should he decide to pursue his boxing career, or to explore other avenues which would not require him to change his mild manners.
