Not that you would have known it based upon press coverage today, but Broner-DeMarco was only the third most important fight to take place last night. More important was Carl Froch?s successful defense of his super-middleweight title in Nottingham, England, and more important still was meeting between perhaps the two best flyweights on the planet which took place at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. As predicted by Boxing.com, this was far and away the best, as well as the most crucial encounter to occur this weekend and delivered upon its billing as a potential Fight of the Year.
Brian ?Hawaiian Punch? Viloria (now 32-3 with 19 stoppages) was that fight?s winner, stopping a brave, brutal Hernan Marquez (who drops to 34-3) in a blistering ten-round unification bout that was inexplicably passed over by both HBO and Showtime. It is interesting that many fans knew what these television executives didn?t: these two could fight a hundred times and it would produce ninety-nine classics. Nevertheless, the fight was broadcast in the US, by a grateful Wealth TV, who now have an absolute gem in the vaults.
Previewing this fight last week I said that ?if Viloria is allowed to find his natural rhythm, I don?t see how the Mexican can rely upon his natural pressure to get the job done. He?ll have to commit himself to getting hit to land his own punches.? This was indeed born out, but what was shocking was that it was born out in the first three minutes of the fight. Whilst conventional wisdom held that Viloria would want to take a couple of rounds to get his distance and to peg Marquez?s hurtful southpaw jab, he instead attacked from the first bell, landing fierce jabs to the body and head, tagging on a snapping, hurtful straight right. Marquez looked as though he might be on the receiving end of a hurtful boxing lesson but he finally managed to make a fight of it with thirty seconds remaining in the round, flashing hard punches at the early runner and landing a crunching left hook as Viloria, momentarily disorganized, lurched back and away. The two-handed attack that followed would have rattled perhaps any other flyweight in the world, but Viloria weathered the storm reigned down upon him by the division?s most concussive puncher, maintaining a high guard and then crashing through the Mexican?s jaw with a steaming right hand. Marquez was dumped firmly upon the canvas and for the first four seconds of the count looked utterly stricken. Regaining his feet but arguably saved by the bell, the question now was to whether or not he could make it through the second round.
As one might expect, Viloria came out aggressively at the beginning of round two, doubling and tripling up his hook whilst sneaking the right across by any means necessary, the uppercut, the straight. Viloria looked extremely dangerous specifically because he did not chase the stoppage, but rather returned to his boxing, finding his man with menacing ease of violence. Marquez also remained cool, attempting to establish that jab. It is unlikely we have seen two cooler operators in the ring together this year.
Marquez showed wonderful footwork to escape from a destructive Viloria hook after being feinted back to the ropes and the expected bull-matador dynamic between these two appeared to have reversed itself. But the Mexican certainly wasn?t running. Rather he was slowing the action down and attempting to establish himself in the fight, which he appeared to be doing with some really excellent work on the inside, a four-punch combination placed around the corner of the high Viloria guard announcing his return to the fight at the halfway point of the round. Viloria re-stamped his own authority in the final minute, taking the round with right hands to the body and the occasional sweeping left.
The third and fourth were disturbing for Marquez as his inability to establish his jab meant Viloria was being allowed to march straight in and do his work to body and head; but his night got considerably worse in the fifth. Marquez began this round with evil intentions, throwing hard punches with the southpaw right, and marching Viloria down for the first time. Viloria remained cool once more and had great success with a twisting right uppercut to the gut which already had the look of being the punch to take the newfound wind out of Marquez?s sails?when instead the Mexican found a crunching right hand counter to the uppercut which drew an audible sigh from the crowd. ?Little Tyson? then absolutely poured on the hurt, driving Viloria back to the ropes and landing perhaps fifteen unanswered cuffing punches before driving him across the ring and to the canvas in what was questionably ruled a slip. Whilst Viloria did technically speaking slip to the ground it happened in the main because he was being beaten across the ring by a near-possessed opponent, and a punch did go in right before he hit the canvas. I would have been fine with either ruling and in fairness, ruling it a slip may have been a well-disguised favor to Marquez, who was able to re-establish his attack without a mandatory eight being tolled. At the 1:30 mark, Viloria was perched on the ropes whilst Marquez smashed blow after blow against his gloves, arms and head. A less stoic referee may have panicked and stopped the fight, but David Mendoza understood what he was seeing; a world-class offense crashing on the shore of a world-class defense in a fight between two schooled warriors.
A big right hand for Viloria slowed a punched-out Marquez down to a near standstill as they worked their way back to ring center when suddenly the Hawaiian Punch was throwing controlled explosions once again and a double one-two at mid-range dumped Marquez back onto the canvas. In five incredible seconds a probable 10-8 for Marquez had become a 10-8 for Viloria.
With fifty seconds remaining in an incredible round Viloria bored back in, landing a brutal right hand to the body. Marquez literally bit down on his gum-shield and went to work throwing a left-right and then an uppercut on the inside, following it up with another wave of offense as Viloria stood and traded, something I did not expect to see until around the ninth. Arguably the best round of the year, it ended with Viloria driving in uppercuts to the body and straight punches to the head.
Marquez?s situation was now desperate. He had not yet won a round and had twice dragged himself from the canvas. The sixth was inevitably quiet, as was the seventh, although both showed occasional flashes of brilliance and consistently superb footwork. A pair of beautiful right hands, one up, one down, landed in the last minute of the seventh sent Viloria hoping a little and although he arguably banked yet another a sense had begun to develop that Marquez was stepping up to contest the box seat. Viloria was moving a little more, allowing Marquez to reclaim the role of bull and in the next he finally got his trailing hand working for him, landing some murderous straight lefts. Meanwhile Viloria had begun to shoeshine just a little bit, excepting his right hand to the body which remained a brutal blow.
The ninth began with a pair of those hammer-tong rights to Marquez?s beltline but only seconds later Viloria was penned in the corner and then on the move. Marquez, hatchet-faced and terrible, stalked him as he slipped out, tracking him down to the opposite corner. Concerns held by some pre-fight (but not by this writer) that Viloria may not have had the engine to fight twelve hard rounds at Marquez?s pace began to resurface as he had all the appearances of wishing to take the round off. Dipping, sliding, literally running, Viloria did do some punching but Marquez seemed now to have taken over on offense. When he was pushed to the canvas by a surging Marquez with twenty seconds left in the round and followed up with punches when the action was rejoined, the fight seemed poised.
Marquez came out slugging at the beginning of the tenth and Viloria seemed in trouble. Landing ten unanswered punches on his opponent?s body, Marquez seemed as though he might be on the verge of some crucial moment when Viloria suddenly forced his way forwards and with Marquez slightly off balance threw a picture perfect version of the punch I described pre-fight as being Viloria?s most important in this fight, a ?sneaky, hurtful punch which will keep Marquez honest and also represents his best chance for the knockout,? a chopping left hook which he drove straight through his opponent as the Mexican looked to land a left of his own. Marquez, laid flat out on his back, looked finished but whatever reserve of guts it is that makes those Mexican fighters extra special, he found it now and hauled himself woodenly to his feet. Barely able to support himself on stiffened legs, Marquez was rescued by a compassionate, responsible corner even as Viloria closed in on him. It was a good stoppage.
Returning for a moment to Nottingham and Froch?s victory over an outclassed Yusaf Mack, it is worth noting that Froch has been rightly admired for a tough run of fights, finally broken with a softer defense this weekend, and broke into many pound-for-pound top ten lists based upon this run. In Julio Cesar Miranda (UD12), Giovani Segura (TKO8), Omar Nino Romero (TKO9) and Hernan Marquez (TKO10), Viloria now has his own incredible run of four?and the run is unmarred by defeat. Furthermore he has looked increasingly superb with each performance, gaining confidence and technical acumen as he mowed down what must be regarded as the best fighters in the deepest flyweight division in some years. Viloria fights anyone and whoever he fights, unlike the admirable Froch, he tends to beat. His last loss, by TKO12 against Carlos Tamara, the fight which is the source of concerns regarding Viloria?s engine, seems a long time ago. The Hawaiian Punch broke into my top ten pound-for-pound last night.
01 ? Floyd Mayweather 02 ? Manny Pacquiao 03 ? Andre Ward 04 ? Nonito Donaire 05 ? Juan Manuel Marquez 06 ? Sergio Martinez 07 ? Wladimir Klitschko 08 ? Timothy Bradley 09 ? BRIAN VILORIA 10 ? Abner Mares
Whilst pound-for-pound as a concept makes this list infinitely debatable for literally every placing, Viloria?s status amongst the very best is unquestionable. Also unquestionable is the fact that this fight has been widely ignored by media.
?I wish I was on HBO. I wish I was on Showtime. I hope I can be on those networks.?
Brian certainly deserves to be. The fans have not ignored this fight; the internet is abuzz with it this morning. It seems that fans know fights in a way that television executives do not. This counts for something, as does his next opponent, who will possibly be Roman Gonzalez, and whose name, should Viloria add it to his resume, would make a run of five victories arguably unparalleled in boxing for two decades. It?s a big ask though, and Gonzalez, who cruised to a unanimous decision against the unheralded Juan Estrada on the same bill, certainly would have been a heavy favorite a year ago. Now? Not so much. The fight is a close one and arguably the single best fight that can be made in boxing right now. I for one would love to see it?and if it was up to Viloria, it would happen in a heartbeat.
So even if you don?t add him to your pound-for-pound list?and if you keep one, you should?add him to your ?must-see list.?
The man has earned it.
