Ref says Segura could've been killed

MANILA, Philippines - Veteran referee Samuel Viruet of New York City said he stopped the fight between defending WBO flyweight champion Brian Viloria and Mexican challenger Giovani Segura at 0:29 of the eighth round at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City last Sunday morning to avoid a life-threatening situation.

“I didn’t want Segura killed,” said the 65-year-old Viruet who worked the Fernando Montiel-Z Gorres fight for the WBO superflyweight crown in Cebu in 2007. “I wanted Segura to go home alive to his wife and kids. If I didn’t stop it, Segura would’ve been seriously injured. I felt the lump on his head. It was hard so I suspected it was a fracture. If it were a hematoma, it would’ve been soft like jelly.”

A hematoma would’ve burst and spewed out blood with the pounding that Viloria administered. Segura was brought to the Medical City for observation after the fight and initial findings pointed to a fracture of the orbital floor of the facial skeleton. He was scheduled to leave Manila last Monday but postponed the departure because of his condition. 

Viruet came in with over 60 world title fights under his belt as a referee. He said last July, he worked a fight in Atlantic City where Cuban Erislandy Lara had a similar lump on his forehead. Viruet said he allowed the bout to continue because the swelling didn’t get bigger. Lara eventually lost a majority 12-round decision to Paul Williams in a WBC lightmiddleweight title eliminator. In Segura’s case, the lump emerged on the right temple in the second round and by the sixth, it had swelled to the right forehead and right cheek, obstructing vision in the right eye. The damage could be like what Antonio Margarito suffered in losing to Manny Pacquiao on points in Dallas last year.

Viruet must have heard about how close Segura is to his wife Yetlandy and their two children, 5-year-old Katie and six-month-old Giovani Jr. Segura said before the fight, he is driven by his goal of providing a better life for his family. His dream is to buy a home that he can call his own.

Viloria said he was told Viruet advised Segura before the start of the eighth round, he would stop it if the Mexican couldn’t stem the tide. “The referee gave Segura one more round,” said Viloria. “I was determined to win. I didn’t want to take chances because I knew Segura could turn things around with one punch.”

Shortly after the eighth round began, Viloria landed a vicious left hook that caught Segura flush on his lump. Segura reeled back and was clearly hurt, his legs wobbly. Viruet quickly jumped in to wave it off.     

Viloria, 31, said it was the biggest win of his storybook career only because Segura had to be his toughest opponent ever. “I could’ve made it easy by boxing from a distance and avoiding a brawl but I wanted Giovani to respect my power,” said Viloria. “I actually didn’t follow our game-plan which was to box and move. I had my own plan and I kept it to myself. I wanted to stand my ground. I wanted to prove myself against one of the world’s top pound-for-pound fighters. I wanted to show I could dish out as much as I took. I couldn’t allow Giovani to push me around and bully me.”

Viloria said his two-fisted attack took the fight out of Segura’s heart. “My plan was to make him think, to make him worry,” he said. “I hit him with my left and my right. I did hooks, crosses and jabs. I wanted him to feel my power. In the end, he was desperate.  His lump got bigger and it was my target. I knew exactly what to expect from Giovani. I never predicted I would knock him out but I knew what I had to do to win. He fought exactly as we expected. Still, he was always dangerous. That’s why I never stayed on the ropes too long. He kept pressing and pushing me towards the ropes and into the corners. I felt his power. I wanted him to feel mine, too.”

Viloria finished the bout with his left eye half-shut and blood trickling down from a cut in the corner of his left eye. Segura’s face was transformed into a grotesque disfigurement. The right side of his face was badly swollen. He also had a cut over his right eye.

Viloria’s trainer Mario Morales, a Mexican journeyman who has fought former world champions Juan Martin Coggi and Ike Quartey, said he knew how the fight would end all along. “I told you so,” said Morales. “I knew it would be easy for Brian. Giovani is all power with no style. Now, the fans will respect Brian for what he really is – a true champion who deserves pound-for-pound recognition as one of the world’s best fighters.”