VILORIA AND CARTAGENA MAKE WEIGHTS AND THE SUPERFLYS ARE READY FOR WAR
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 10 Sep 2017
Brian Viloria made weight at the official weigh-in Saturday in Carson, California, where he registered 113.4 lbs. His foe Cartagena tipped the scales at 113.6 lbs. Now aged 36, the "Hawaiian Punch" is still hoping to wear a world title belt. "Age doesn't matter in this sport. It's how you treat yourself and prepare for each fight," Viloria was quoted by spin.ph. The Viloria-Cartagena bout is an 8-rounder undercard of "The Superfly" boxing event that headlines WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a grudge match with Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzales.
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Viloria lost his WBO and WBA titles to Juan Francisco Estrada by a split decision in April 6, 2013. at the Cotai Arena in Macau and then failed in a title bid against Gonzales for the WBC and The Ring flyweight title on October 17, 2015. Viloria was stopped in the 9th round and lost via TKO at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
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"That's the beauty of this card, anybody can be mixed and match," said Viloria of the protagonists of today's superflyweight gigantic cards. "I fought a couple of them already, Estrada, Gonzales. Hopefully, they come out and show the world what the superflyweight has in store. It will catch a lot of fight fans' viewership."
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Gonzalez?s first fight in the super flyweight against Carlos Cuadras showed that "Chocolatito" does not have the adequate size and power to dominate the division. Gonzalez won over Cuadras by a very close 12-round unanimous decision with the scores 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111.
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Even if he won that fight, Gonzalez received some punishment from Cuadras. Gonzalez fought a heftier Cuadras who rehydrated to look too heavy. He looked considerably heavier than Gonzalez. The same scenario happened when the then undefeated champion Gonzalez fought Rungvisai as he looked too small in the ring against the Thai challenger.
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WBO super flyweight champion Naoya Inoue fights in a title defense against Antonio Nieves. Inoue vs. Nieves is the second fight from the main event. The Carlos Cuadras vs. Juan Francisco Estrada bout is the third fight but would be the more exciting bout than the Inoue vs. Nieves fight. But the Inoue fight is a world championship that is why it was placed on top of the non-title Cuadras-Estrada match.
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Gonzalez is targeting Inoue in a unification match if he regains his WBC superflyweight title. Inoue will prove that presently he is the best fighter in the super flyweight division. Nieves would be an easy prey because he was beaten in his last fight by Nikolai Potapov by a 10 round split decision last March 10.
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In the battle of ex-world champions, former WBC super flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras weighed in at 114.6 lbs., and his foe former WBA/WBO flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada weighed in at 114.8 lbs. Cuadras-Estrada is a WBC superflyweight title eliminator. The winner of the fight will be mandated to fight the winner of the Gonzalez vs. Rungvisai fight.
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Estrada relinquished his flyweight crown in 2016 to move up to super flyweight. He already won twice in the super flyweight division defeating Filipino Raymond Tabugon and Colombian Anuar Salas. Estrada won his last 9 fights since losing to Gonzalez.
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Estrada demanded a rematch with Gonzalez, but the former pound-for-pound king did not grant him one. If Estrada can beat Cuadras and Gonzalez can defeat Rungvisai, then we could see Estrada face Gonzalez in a rematch as it would be mandated by WBC . If Estrada or Gonzalez gets beaten then we could not see a rematch of both fighters.
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Estrada has a history of defeat then victory in the rematch. He was beaten by Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. by an 8-round unanimous decision on May 14, 2011. Estrada made a come back and defeated Sanchez Jr. by a 10th round knockout during their rematch on December 17, 2011. Could it apply to "Chocolatito?"
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Carlos Cuadras scored an eighth-round technical decision over Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand, winning the WBC title before his partisan fans in Mexico on May 31, 2014. Cuadras was ahead, 77-74, 77-75, and 78-73, on the scorecards, after a clash of heads in the eighth worsened the cut of Cuadras' left eyebrow caused by an accidental head butt in the fourth. That urged referee Jay Nady to halt the fight on the advice of the ring doctor.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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