Wearing a Filipino flag on one leg and a American flag on the other, proud Filipino-American and WBC Light Flyweight Champion Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria entered the ring with his usual hula girls and “Hawaii 5-0” song blaring overhead on Thursday night at the Orleans Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.
With at least 80% of the crowd behind him as he entered the first round, the undefeated Viloria calmly sized up his opponent, landed several clean shots by counter punching aggressive-but-ineffective challenger Omar Nino-Romero.
It was “so far, so good” for the young champion, making only his second title defense. With future Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, it would seem obvious that Viloria would come out for the second round bell with every answer he needed to easily finish the overmatched Romero.
With two of Romero’s last four victories against fighters who had no wins on their records, the stage was set for Viloria to impress his adopted hometown fans and lay the tracks to a belt-unifying bout versus WBA Light Flyweight Champion Koki Kameda.
Unfortunately, for the defending champion, Romero proved harder to break down than expected.
After the first round, fans watched as a hungrier, more aggressive Romero (24-2-1, 10 KOs), fighting with a hunger for the WBC title belt, handed Viloria his first loss in a stunning upset.
Romero consistently pressed the action without answer while Viloria, failing to counter attack, simply watched his title taken away
Viloria took his time throwing punches–and those punches rarely came. His inactivity cost him nearly every round while eliciting a few “boring” chants from the crowd.
“I’m in shock right now,” said the disappointed Viloria.
“I don’t know what to do right now. I fought a stupid fight tonight.
“I waited too long . . . I just waited.”
Most ring side observers agreed that the judges had no choice but to score several rounds to the much more active, but much less accurate, Romero.
Against his corner’s advice, Viloria failed to launch an effective game plan until the middle rounds, where he did the most damage. It did not, however, prove enough.
“I just didn’t do enough,” said Viloria. “I needed to be a lot more aggressive.”
Viloria won only one round on all three judges scorecards (the seventh), losing rounds 8-11 on all three judges’ scorecards, as well.
Romero was the least surprised with the victory:
“We knew why they brought us here,” the champion said. “I knew they didn’t think we would win. But, after the fourth round, I knew that I would win this fight.
“He hit me, but not as hard as we had thought. Tonight is my night. I am the winner I am the new champion.”
Viloria (now 19-1-0, 12 KOs) said he would like to get an immediate rematch.
“Everyone has bad nights. Tonight was mine.”
Official scores read 117-112, 118-110 and 117-111.
