Elorde pushes Viloria to the wall

Filipino promoter Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde is leaving World Boxing Council (WBC) lightflyweight champion Brian Viloria no choice but to stake his crown against No. 1 contender Juanito Rubillar here on May 6.

Although Viloria said he’d rather not fight a Filipino, Elorde is pushing the Hawaiian Punch to the wall and has gained WBC president Jose Sulaiman’s support in ordering the mandatory defense.

Elorde is backing up his bid with a serious offer. He’s putting up a $150,000 purse, tax-free, for Viloria and providing four round-trip air tickets from Los Angeles to Manila and back.

It’s almost an offer that’s impossible to refuse. Viloria has never earned a purse in six figures. In his first title defense against Jose Antonio Aguirre in Las Vegas last month, Viloria declined to reveal his paycheck but said it was less than $100,000 and more than $50,000.

So Elorde’s offer can’t be ignored.

Besides, Elorde said Viloria is obliged to make a mandatory defense against the top contender.

"Viloria won the title in September last year and his last defense was a choice so the next defense should be a mandatory," said Elorde in a letter to Sulaiman. "Rubillar was the No. 1 WBC lightflyweight contender before Viloria was given a chance to fight Eric Ortiz for the title. It states in the WBC rules that after a champion wins the title, he should defend against the No. 1 contender or after a choice defense, the champion should defend against the No. 1 contender in a mandatory defense."

Elorde said WBC rules stipulate that six months after a champion wins the title, he should make a mandatory defense against the No. 1 contender.

Elorde initially set April 4 as the date for the fight or six months after Viloria wrested the crown from Ortiz.

"We heard Viloria hurt his hand and needs a three-week rest period," said Elorde. "So we would like to offer him to defend against Rubillar on May 6. The venue will be the Elorde Sports Center in Parañaque."

In his reply, Sulaiman said: "Papa Sarreal (Elorde’s grandfather) was my mentor and one of my all-time greatest friends in boxing and Flash Elorde was one of my greatest boxing heroes. It will always be my pleasure to do everything that I can to support you. I owe that to your ancestors. I am contacting Viloria’s representative with your offer."

Subsequently, in a letter dated last March 6, Sulaiman informed Viloria’s manager Gary Gittelsohn that the free negotiation period for the mandatory defense has started and will end with a purse offer, if no agreement is made, on April 7 at the WBC office in Mexico City.

A purse offer will decide which promoter gains the rights to stage the fight. If Elorde’s bid is unchallenged, he will dictate where the fight is to be held and under what conditions. The bid will be a total of the purses for both the champion and challenger on a 75-25 sharing basis.

If Elorde wins the purse bid and Viloria refuses to defend against Rubillar, the WBC may decide to strip the champion of the title and order a bout for the vacant throne between Rubillar and the next available top contender.

Rubillar, 29, has a record of 36-8-7 with 14 KOs. He turned pro in 1994 and has won his last four fights. Rubillar has fought for the world title twice, losing to Zolani Petelo in an International Boxing Federation minimumweight championship fight in England in 1999 and to Jorge Arce in a WBC lightflyweight championship fight in Mexico two years ago.

A durable warrior, Rubillar has the distinction of going the distance twice with Arce, losing once by split decision. He has lost only once by stoppage–to Medgeon 3-K Battery, the former WBC flyweight champion, in Bangkok in 1998.