Sports Eye
Behind the scene after the Viloria-Romero fight
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
YOU and I saw the May 13 fight. You watched it on TV while I watched it in the flesh at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. The result was a devastating, vengeful and sweet conquest for Filipino world champion Brian Viloria over his arch nemesis Omar Nino Romero of Mexico. Devastating because we saw how the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight (112 lbs.) defending champion Viloria pummelled the visiting Mexican with much gusto from the third up to the ninth round to score a technical knockout. Vengeful because the fellow from Guadalajara, Jalisco unquestionably defeated Viloria during their first encounter and their second meeting was a no-contest. Both fights were held in America.
After the fight, we waited for the two for the usual post-fight press conference . But before I went to the presscon I tried to peep into Romero’s dressing room and there I saw the ring physician intensively conducting a thorough check-up om Romero. And I heard the arena’s chief security saying “please prepare the ambulance vehicle because I believe we will take him (Romero) to the hospital for the precautionary measure.” Outside the stadium, while waiting for the two, I recognized one of Romero’s seconds going outside to smoke a cigarette (smoking inside the arena is strictly prohibited) and I immediately approached and talked to him, introducing myself as a media man showing my Punch identification card, mentioned my name and also told him that my father was also a Mexican like him and was born in Burgos, Mexico. He unabashedly granted me a brief interview and also said his name is Lucio dela Ceta from Monterrey. He could hardly speak English and despite my hesitancy to talk to him in Spanish fearing that I might run out of words, I finally decided to shift my conversation with him in my choppy Spanish. I asked him “que pasa a hora a Romero? (What’s happening now to Romero?)” He answered, “Romero es doliente insolito dolor de cabeza (Romero is suffering an unusual headache).” I was not surprised at all to hear it from Lucio as we clearly saw how Viloria landed his solid and vicious punches on Romero’s head and that caused him to experience the awful headache. We saw after the third and fourth rounds that Romero hobbled toward the neutral corner instead of his, prompting jeers and laughter from the partisan crowd, and also after the fifth round when he tottered toward Viloria’s area instead of his, producing another hoot from the audience. That was a big sign of dizziness. We all knew that from those three consecutive rounds, which were dominated by Viloria, Romero was ready to fall, soon. At first, when referee Michael Ortega halted the brawl, I said it was a premature stoppage because there was not even one knockdown yet and Romero was still on his feet. In fact although Romero was visibly badly shaken, he immediately protested the halt and maybe was just pretending that he can still manage to fight despite receiving numerous battering shots from the Hawaiian Punch. But the referee did a good job and only wanted to save the defenseless Romero from further punishment that could even eventually push him to endure trauma, or even death. Lucio said it was a legitimate stoppage. I believe him and agreed with the referee.
Romero, 35, skipped the post-fight interview probably because he was too dizzy to walk to the venue and I sensed that he might wrongly answer some questions from the world media people due to his wooziness that could cause his embarrassment. But a day after the fight, a rested Romero bragged about wanting another fight and requested it to be held in Mexico, promising to beat Viloria because the Mexicans will surely cheer for him. He meant moral support ‘ika nga. It will be their fourth battle if it pushes through but I doubt it will happen. But the Waipahu, Hawaii born Viloria, 31, (some scribes say he was born in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur and migrated to America at four years of age) just shrugged it off, focusing instead on his delayed honeymoon to Europe with his wife Erika before attending the much-awaited Pacquiao-Bradley WBO welterweight title clash on June 10 (PH time) at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After learning from the management that Romero is unfit for the post-fight meeting, I hurriedly went to my compadre Recah’s house in Mandaluyong City to dine with him (as usual) and his neighbour friends. Recah, knowing me since my cycling heydays that I’m a half Filipino and half Mexican hombre, he jokingly said “you will never lose or will never win every time a Filipino and Mexican clash together inside the ring.” Four bottles of beer for that, compadre.
What do you say now my co-Fil-Mex Jessica Sanchez? Four bottles are not enough to celebrate our victory and our defeat. One dozen would be okay. Hik! Hik! Hik!
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QUOTEOF THE WEEK: And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” GENESIS 2: 21-2
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