VILORIA AND BANAL: ISLAND COMEBACKS
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 24 Aug 2009
Four years ago, Brian Viloria was part of a national celebration that has now become routine every time Manny Pacquiao scores a victory. In a fight card held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Viloria scored a one round knockout win over Eric Ortiz to win the WBC light flyweight crown. Together with Rey Bautista, who scored a third round KO win over Felix Flores, they exulted with Manny Pacquiao who stopped Hector Velasquez in 6 rounds. The three were paraded around the Metro Manila. It was a time of hysterical flag waving.
Viloria, who traces his roots to Ilocos Region, was warmly embraced as one of our own. He made one successful title defense then his career entered boxing's purgatory. His unbeaten streak ended when Mexican Omar Ni?o Romero took his crown by decision.
In a rematch held on November 2006 in Las Vegas , Romero held onto his title with a controversial majority draw . Following the fight, Ni?o was stripped of his title when he failed a post fight drug test being tested positive for methamphetamines and the second match between them was declared a no-contest. On April 2007, he fought another Mexican, Edgar Sosa for the vacant WBC title but lost a majority decision.
His career was fading. Viloria became an afterthought with the fickle-minded Filipino boxing fans.
He started a rebuilding process in 2008 which curiously consisted mostly of eight round bouts against opponents with no so stellar ring records. But he had a plan. He wanted to get his hunger back. With former IBF superfeatherweight champ Roberto Garcia as his trainer, Viloria got into the warrior's mindset. He was not going to lose easy this time around.
Viloria reaped the fruits of his labor last April when he fought the fight of his life and won the IBF light flyweight championship from Ulises Solis of Mexico with a dramatic 11th round KO win at the historic Araneta Coliseum.
The Hawaiian Punch became the toast of Philippine boxing once again. This time he wants to stay on top a little longer. Viloria will turn 29 this November and he will make the first defense of his IBF light flyweight world title against Mexico’s Jesus Iribe this on August 29 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Iribe (15 W-5L-5D, 9 KO's) holds the WBC Fecarbox lt. flyweight title. He will fight out of Mexico for the first time. Last February 2008, he lost his first title shot to WBC champ Edgar Sosa by unanimous decision. Another familiar name on his record is Esau Gaona, who he beat last year by 10 round unanimous decision. Gaona was knocked out by AJ Banal in one round two years ago in Cebu City.
AJ Banal, one of the stars of the ALA gym, will be fighting in the undercard. He will be facing Jose Angel Beranza (32W-15L- 2D,25KO's) of Mexico.
Banal (19W-1L-1D, 16 KO's) has been undergoing a rebuilding process since he ran out of gas in the 10th round and was stopped by Panama’s Rafael Concepcion in their WBA interim superflyweight title fight last year.
Banal’s training at the ALA gym has been scrutinized by the local press. Their training staff has made the necessary adjustments and he has also moved up in weight. Last January he scored a fourth round knockout win over Nouldy Manakane of Indonesia in Bohol. He returned to the Cebu Coliseum – the site of the Concepcion debacle - last May to heal his scarred psyche and easily disposed of the Tanzanian Golden Boy, Mbwana Matumla, in two rounds. Banal is currently training at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym together with WBO minimumweight world champ Donnie Nietes and world title challenger Rodel Mayol.
The Viloria model for making a comeback has shown to be very effective. But Banal will have more difficulty staying away from the limelight in a boxing crazy country. His punching power continues to make him a popular draw here in the Philippines. Fighting abroad and facing sturdy South American boxers will do wonders for his mental toughness and ability to adjust to fight situations. How a Filipino boxer fares against the tough Latinos remains the gold standard in assessing a prospect’s real worth.
The fight card is billed as “Island Assault” and will also feature another Pinoy boxer, Dennis Laurente (31W-3L-5D, 16KO's) against another Mexican, Zaid Zavaleta (18W-5L-2D, 11KO's). It will be held at Honolulu's Blaisdell Center and will be shown on Philippine television Sunday morning August 30 Manila time.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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