Sports Eye
Segura and Viloria
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
YOU and I saw the fight. You watched it on TV but I watched it personally at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City last Sunday. We saw how the Narvacan, Ilocos Sur-born Brian Viloria scored a devastating eight round stoppage over the dreaded Mexican ring gladiator Giovani Segura to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) title. It was a sensational win that many pundits (including this writer) said was not likely to happen. It really shocked the world boxing fans. Segura, a 2-1 favorite to wrest the crown from the Waipahu, Hawaii raised Fil-Am Viloria suffered his first humiliating defeat after 30 bouts of sterling professional career. According to the reports (as of this writing), he’s still in the country and confined at a hospital, closely observed by doctors for that huge lump on the right side of his forehead. The physicians said the ciudad de Altamirano, Guerrero-born Segura suffered an orbital fractured bone that could jeopardize his career and could require him for at least a year or more to rest and recuperate before he’s allowed to fight again.
Tsk,tsk, tsk. He’s really pitiful. I saw his injury in the flesh. Mapapailing ka ‘ika nga kapag nakita mo nang malapitan. And the veteran referee Samuel Viruet was absolutely correct to stop the encounter because the Mexican fighter, a.k.a Aztec Warrior, was already defenseless at that moment and who knows, he could have been killed if it was not halted.
I talked to him before the fight at the Ynares dugout where I saw him warming up and at the same time watching his compatriot Martin Honorio fighting a Thai slugger (I forgot his name) on TV in one of the undercards of the day that was dubbed “Island Assault 3.” The Chicano boxer who is based in Bell, California could hardly speak English and so I decided to converse with him in Spanish. Having a little knowledge of this language being a son of a pure Mexican hombre, we conversed in ala-barok way but understood each other clearly. In fact I brought my Mexican handkerchief and my little Mexican flag that my Mexican cousin Dago Garcia Soto gave me in 2006, and asked for his autograph as my recuerdo and he politely obliged. I was delighted because the guy who eventually Viloria pummelled was a former WBO and World Boxing Association (WBA) lightflyweight titlist and the only fellow who crushed the former undefeated world champion Puerto Rican Ivan Calderon via an eight round kayo. And Segura also defeated co-Hispanic pugilist Carlos Tamara (conqueror of Viloria) via 12-round unanimous decision. We recall in revulsion that Viloria, then 30, leading by points from the three ring judges before the 12th canto, was caught by fatigue in the 12th and final round. The referee, sensing that the Fil-Am fighter was already defenseless, plastered and powerless, immediately stepped in to wave off the fight to save Viloria from further punishment, yielding Viloria’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight diadem to Tamara. The fight was held on January 23, 2010 at the Cuneta Astrodome. “Contra-pelo” ‘ika nga in Filipino.
Viloria is enjoying his second title defense and now totes a card of 30 wins, three losses with 17 knockouts. Viloria, whose career had gone up-down-up, bagged his first world crown by knocking out Mexico’s Eric Ortiz in the first round to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight in 2005. He lost his tiara in 2006 to Mexico’s Omar Nino Romero via a 12-rounds unanimous decision. Latest reports say his most likely next opponent will either be Calderon or Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand or even his compatriot, the undefeated flyweight contender Milan Melindo. Hopefully it will be done here. Fighting in your own turf is really moral-boosting and I guess that was one of the factors why The Hawaiian Punch displayed a spectacular conquest in front of his cheering admirers, unlike when he badly lost to Tamara. Perhaps he learned a big lesson from that stunning debacle.
I believe Segura who was ranked No. 9 pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by the Ring Magazine prior to last Sunday’s battle will now be relegated outside the top ten and probably Viloria would capture his slot. Let’s wait and see.
But it was disappointing to note that the two Mexican boxing legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. did not arrive to annotate the fight live to Mexico as reported earlier. Maybe they’re busy with their families because of the yuletide season. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
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QUOTEOF THE WEEK: For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ISAIAH 9: 6
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