Hot Viloria survives career's toughest test

MANILA, Philippines - Newly crowned WBO flyweight champion Brian (The Hawaiian Punch) Viloria confessed it was probably the toughest fight of his career and said Mexico’s Julio Cesar Miranda just wouldn’t stop punching throughout their 12-round bout at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu last Saturday.

Viloria, 30, floored Miranda with a right hook to the body in the first round, built up a huge cushion and hung on in the late going to pound out a unanimous decision. Judge Ruben Garcia of Texas saw it 114-113 while judge Robert Hoyle of Nevada had it 117-110 and Hawaiian judge Tamotsu Tomihara, 115-113. The Star scored it 115-112 for Viloria who staved off a late charge by Miranda to become only the sixth Filipino fighter to capture at least two world titles in two different divisions after Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, Gerry Peñalosa, Luisito Espinosa and Dodie Boy Peñalosa.

Viloria’s manager Gary Gittelsohn said Miranda asked for a rematch when the smoke of battle cleared.

 “Miranda was clearly much bigger than Brian in the fight, like he weighed 122 pounds or three divisions higher,” said Gittelsohn in an overseas phone call from Honolulu. “He asked for a rematch but I told him he’s better off fighting at 115 pounds because he hardly made the flyweight limit. He admitted he lost to the better man. I was surprised when he offered to join Brian’s training camp for his first defense and even mentioned he would spar with him if he wanted. I thought it was classy of Miranda to say that.”

Viloria said he abandoned his strategy of boxing from long range at the onset to test the switch-hitting Miranda’s power.

 “I wanted to see what he had so I went in there and banged away,” Viloria explained to The Star. “I think Miranda’s tougher than (Ulises) Solis or (Carlos) Tamara. He’s a real brawler. He’ll take one to give one. He just kept coming in, throwing punches. I hit him with everything I had. I went to the body a lot to try to slow him down. I made sure I wouldn’t fight his fight. I had to play it smart.”

Viloria said after the first round assault, he decided to stick to his original fight plan and work behind his left jab. “He hits real hard,” said the Sydney Olympian who traces his roots to Narvacan, Ilocos Sur. “He wouldn’t go away. Towards the end, I was a little reluctant to mix it up because I knew he still had power. I just boxed him from a distance and stayed away. I was a little tired down the stretch but my legs were okay. I was in great condition.”

Viloria said the cut he suffered in the eighth round never bothered him. “I’ve been cut before,” he went on. “It’s something you expect from a hard fight. I thought I was a lot quicker than Miranda. I beat him to the punch. But I was careful. Miranda was like a superfeatherweight out there. In the seventh, I gave it all I had and he didn’t go down. He fought like a champion.” Viloria finished the fight with blood gushing from a cut in the corner of his right eye. 

Gittelsohn said Viloria threw bombs that would’ve dropped a middleweight but Miranda proved as durable as advertised. He said Manny Pacquiao has invited Viloria to join him in the press tour for the Juan Manuel Marquez fight in Las Vegas on Nov. 12 and Viloria “adores” Pacquiao like every fighter does.

“I’ve asked Brian to rest in Honolulu maybe until Tuesday or Wednesday,” said Gittelsohn. “I’ve got to go back to Los Angeles but if Brian goes to Manila this week, I’ll make sure to join him. Peter (Chanliong of Solar Sports) wants to do a press conference for Brian in Manila this week and I think it’s a good idea for Philippine media to find out from Brian himself how he turned it on to win his third world title.”

Ring announcer John Noland, a Hawaii media personality who promotes locally-made products through TV commercials, was a disaster on the microphone before and after the fight. He referred to WBO president Paco Valcarcel as the World Boxing Association president and WBO Asia Pacific chairman Leon Panoncillo, a Hawaiian of Filipino descent, as Leon Panconillo in the fight introductions. At the end of the bout, he announced the wrong scores of the judges – 91-98, 93-96, 93-97 – in that sequence, reading the lower numbers first. It caused confusion because under the 10-point must system, the maximum score is 120 points. Apparently, Noland read the scores only up to the 10th round. 

 “There were two pages in the judges’ scoresheets and Noland read the scores only on the first page,” said Gittelsohn.    

Two Filipinos won in the undercard. Lightflyweight contender Denver Cuello made short work of Puerto Rico’s Omar Soto, scoring a second round stoppage in an eight-rounder. Soto was down twice in the first round and thrice in the second before the referee intervened at the 0:56 mark. Superfeatherweight Michael Farenas beat Mexico’s Fernando Beltran, Jr. on a majority eight-round decision, meaning two judges saw it his way and one had it a draw, but the scores read by Noland in the ring – 78-74, 76-80, 78-75 – pointed to a split verdict, still another blunder by the ring announcer.