Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said recently former World Boxing Council (WBC) lightflyweight champion Brian Viloria must consult an athletic nutritionist to stay in the 108-pound division if he plans to regain the title that has been declared vacant due to Omar Nino Romero testing positive for drugs.
Arum was in Manila last week to announce the signing of a four-year contract with boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.
Viloria lost the WBC crown to Romero on points last August. They fought to a controversial draw despite Viloria scoring two knockdowns, allowing Romero to retain the title, three months later. Romero was subsequently stripped of the title after failing a drug test.
The WBC is expected to approve a title fight between Viloria and the next available leading contender to crown Romero’s successor.
Arum said the bout for the vacant throne could be held in February or March and Top Rank will promote it.
“Brian has fought for Top Rank and we’ll do the fight for him,” said Arum. “But he’s got to decide if he’ll stay in the lightflyweight division or move up in weight. If he stays in the lightflyweight division, he’ll need to consult an athletic nutritionist like Erik Morales did in preparing for his third fight against Manny.”
Arum said Viloria has had to lose so much weight to make the 108-pound limit that in fighting Romero twice, he had to preserve his energy and couldn’t go all out for a win. The drop in weight resulted in a diminution of power.
“I noticed Brian couldn’t really go after Romero because he was afraid of running out of gas,” said Arum. “In the second fight, he scored two knockdowns but couldn’t put Romero away. By the 12th round, he had nothing left. Losing so much weight to make 108 pounds took away his strength.”
Arum said he will advise Viloria, through manager Gary Gittelsohn, to consider moving up to flyweight or working with an athletic nutritionist if he will try to regain the WBC title.
As for Morales, Arum said the Mexican was in “great” physical condition when he faced Pacquiao in the “Grand Finale.” Morales trained four months for the rubber match and worked with nutrition specialists from the Velocity Sports Performance Gym in Los Angeles. Morales easily made the superfeatherweight limit of 130 pounds at the weigh-in the day before the fight.
The problem was despite assistance from nutritionists, Morales was no longer the same fighter he was in his prime.
“I thought Erik lost the second fight to Manny because of the weight factor,” said Arum. “He got tired in the middle rounds and didn’t have the energy to come back because he lost too much weight. In the third fight, the weight wasn’t a factor but Erik was on the way down and Manny, on the way up. It was a case of Erik not being able to hurt Manny and Manny being able to hurt Erik.”
Arum said because of his long relationship with Morales, he’ll never abandon the Mexican.
“Erik wants one more fight for the world lightweight title,” said Arum. “I’ll try to talk him out of it. But if he wants one more fight, I’ll do it for him. Who knows why fighters (ready to retire) want to fight one more time? In Erik’s case, it’s not for the money. He wants to go out with a win and another title.”
Morales has lost his last three fights and four of his last five but said he won’t hang up his gloves until he tries to become the first Mexican to win four WBC titles in different divisions. He has set his sights on the WBC lightweight crown held by Joel Casamayor of Cuba and wants his farewell fight in his Tijuana hometown.
Morales and Julio Cesar Chavez are the only pure-bred Mexicans to win three WBC crowns in different divisions. Marco Antonio Barrera has won two WBC titles in different weight classes. One of Barrera’s three crowns was recognized by the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
