Cotto, Viloria in comeback fights

ARLINGTON – Former Sydney Olympians Brian (The Hawaiian Punch) Viloria and Miguel Cotto got together here to witness the historic Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey bout that marked the first-ever boxing event at the Cowboys Stadium last weekend.

And they clearly drew inspiration from Pacquiao’s showing before a crowd of 50,944 fans. Cotto occupied a ringside seat while Viloria sat right by the ring apron, doing broadcast chores on the TV panel for Solar’s live satellite coverage.

The day before the fight, Cotto was spotted eating breakfast with WBC president Jose Sulaiman and his party at the Riverwalk Café in the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center where the boxing fraternity stayed for the weekend.

Cotto and Viloria exchanged notes when they saw each other at the resort.

“We’ve known each other since we were about 14 fighting in junior international competitions,” said Viloria. “In 1998, we participated in a US-Puerto Rico dual meet where I was named best US boxer and he was the best Puerto Rican boxer. We both made it to Sydney for the Olympics. Miguel was a lightwelterweight then and the American representative Ricardo Williams won the gold medal. I fought in the flyweight division.”

Viloria beat Russia’s Sergei Kazakob, 8-6, in his first Olympic bout then lost a 6-4 decision to France’s Brahim Asloum who went on to win the gold and further became a world pro champion. Cotto was eliminated by Uzbekistan’s Muhammad Abdullaev, 17-7, in his first outing. Abdullaev eventually bagged the gold and lost to Cotto later in the pros. Both Viloria and Cotto were victimized by the gold medalists in their divisions in the Olympics.

Now, the 29-year-old friends are again in a similar situation. They’re smarting from losses. Cotto hasn’t fought since losing to Manny Pacquiao on a 12th round stoppage last November. Viloria ran out of steam and was also stopped in the 12th round in losing his IBF lightflyweight crown to Colombia’s Carlos Tamara at the Cuneta Astrodome last January.

On the comeback trail, Cotto and Viloria are moving up a weight class. Cotto is booked to challenge WBA lightmiddleweight titlist Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium in New York on June 5 while Viloria said he’ll fight again – this time as a flyweight – in May.

“I don’t see a problem bringing my power over to the next division,” said Cotto. Viloria said the same thing.

Cotto would’ve earned a tidy sum if he bet for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight to go the distance. The winner was a foregone conclusion so the wagers were mainly on whether the fight will go 12 or less.

Before the fight, Cotto predicted that Pacquiao wouldn’t be able to knock out Clottey.

“I’ve fought them both and I was the common opponent in their last fights,” said Cotto. “I lost to Manny and beat Clottey. I think Clottey’s too strong for Manny because he’s so much bigger. He’ll be able to take Manny’s power but he won’t win because he doesn’t throw enough. If he lets his hands go, maybe, it’ll be a different story. But the way I see it, Manny will win by a unanimous decision.”

Cotto was right on the money.

Viloria foresaw a slight variation.

“Manny’s too fast for Clottey,” said Viloria. “He’ll run rings around him. He’ll frustrate Clottey until he finally gives up. It could be a late stoppage. I don’t think Clottey will go down but he’ll be so badly beaten up the referee will stop it. The frustration could also lead to a disqualification if Clottey loses his head and gets desperate.”

Viloria was in town with his fiancée Erika Navarro. They are set to get married on Dec. 3 in Oahu. – Joaquin Henson