Viloria ready for KO artist Miranda
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 17 Jul 2011
It?s a do-or-die situation for challenger Brian (The Hawaiian Punch) Viloria who won?t consider losing an option in facing WBO flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda of Mexico in a 12-round bout at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu this morning (Manila time).
In yesterday?s weigh-in, Viloria easily made the limit by scaling 111.6 pounds. But Miranda struggled, initially checking in two pounds over the flyweight limit of 112 pounds. The Mexican dropped down to 112.9 pounds then eventually climbed back on the scales to hit 111.6 after two hours of strenuous exercises.
?The kid (Miranda) really drained himself,? said Viloria?s manager Gary Gittelsohn in a text message from Honolulu. ?I can?t believe a champion shows up at the weigh-in two pounds over. He used the whole two hours to sweat it off.?
Viloria, 30, said he?s in the best condition of his professional career that started in 2001 after a stint at the Sydney Olympics. A two-time world lightflyweight champion, Viloria is in the crossroads of his career. A loss to Miranda will likely mean the end of his boxing odyssey. A win will cement Viloria?s legacy as one of the greatest Filipino fighters ever, joining five others with at least two world titles in different divisions----Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, Luisito Espinosa, Gerry Penalosa and Dodie Boy Penalosa.
Gittelsohn said he expects Viloria to fight the same way he did in knocking out Mexico?s Ulises Solis to wrest the IBF lightflyweight crown at the Araneta Coliseum two years ago. ?The Brian who knocked out Solis will enjoy equal success against Miranda,? said Gittelsohn. ?Winning a third world title in two different weight classes will put Brian in a rarefied place. I?m convinced Brian will make us all proud and deliver another world title to the Philippines.?
Viloria captured his first world diadem in 2005, pulverizing Mexico?s Eric Ortiz in a single round for the WBC 108-pound title at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
?I?m very confident,? said Viloria who traces his roots to Narvacan, Ilocos Sur. ?I feel great. I don?t think there?s anything Miranda will bring to the table that I don?t already know.?
Miranda, 31, is known as a volume puncher with awesome punching power. He has scored 28 stoppages in 35 wins, an 80 percent knockout rate. Miranda has won his last five assignments, all inside the distance, and two of his victims were Filipinos Richie Mepranum and Arden Diale.
?Brian has to fight smart,? said Viloria?s chief second Ruben Gomez. ?If the opportunity to knock out Miranda comes, Brian will take it. We?re aware of Miranda?s knockout percentage and Brian won?t get careless. Brian will try to win every round. He?ll work the body and wear Miranda out. It?s a must win for Brian. If he loses, I think his boxing career is over.?
Viloria said he?s not fazed by Miranda?s reputation as a brawling, come-forward knockout artist. ?He has a lot of power,? added Viloria, quoted by mmaabsolute.com. ?He?s a tough guy and it shows in his record. He doesn?t possess anything that looks surprising. He?s just a fighter. He throws a lot of combinations and likes to stand in the pocket. He doesn?t really have good movement which I could possibly take advantage of. I think I?m the quicker fighter with faster hand-speed. I?m just going to go to my strengths and capitalize on his weaknesses.?
Anticipating Miranda?s switch-hitting tactics, Viloria took on Japanese sparmate Takashi Okada----a carbon copy of the Mexican----in training camp. ?Okada likes to switch-hit just like Miranda,? said Gomez. ?We expect Miranda to go orthodox and southpaw so Brian got used to that with Okada who gave him a lot of different looks.? Okada was one of four sparmates who kept Viloria busy in the gym. Viloria logged 150 rounds of sparring to prepare for Miranda.
Gomez said what happened to Viloria in losing the IBF title to Carlos Tamara early last year won?t happen again. Viloria blew an early lead only to tire out down the stretch and lost to Tamara on a 12th round stoppage. It wasn?t that Tamara was the superior fighter----it was just that Viloria ran out of gas.
?Brian worked his butt off in the gym,? said Gomez. ?He did things he never did before in training for a fight. An example was when he did a three-mile run up Mount Baldy in San Bernardino off Los Angeles with guys like Antonio Margarito, Giovani Segura and Miguel Angel Vazquez. We drove up to a point 5,000 feet above sea level then he ran up to where it got to 8,500 to 9,000 feet. Even cars have a difficult time going up that incline. That was a killer run and Brian did it.?
The Miranda-Viloria fight took months to firm up as the Mexican camp played hard-to-get with excessive money demands although the Hawaiian Punch was the mandatory challenger as the WBO?s No. 1 contender. The bout was initially planned to take place at the Araneta Coliseum on June 11 then it was moved to the Stapes Center on June 4 before finally, the parties settled on Honolulu where Viloria was born.
Viloria has won nine of his last 10 fights to push his record to 28-3, with 16 KOs. Miranda?s record is 35-5-1, with 28 KOs. Assigned to referee the fight is Hall of Famer Joe Cortez. A controversy erupted a few days ago when the Hawaii State Boxing Commission attempted to rearrange the composition of the judges panel. Miranda?s camp objected to the commission?s proposal of designating two Hawaiians and one Filipino. A compromise was later brokered to replace original judges Robert Byrd with Robert Hoyle and Filipino lawyer Danrex Tapdasan with Hawaiian Tamotsu Tomihara. The third judge is Dr. Ruben Garcia of Texas.
Two Filipinos will see action in the undercard. Lightflyweight Denver Cuello will take on Puerto Rico?s Omar Soto while IBF No. 14 superfeatherweight Michael Farenas battles Mexico?s Fernando Beltran, Jr.
In Cancun yesterday, WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico tipped the scales at 138 pounds for his 10-round tune-up fight against WBA No. 4 lightweight contender Likar Ramos of Colombia. Ramos, a southpaw, scaled 140----he weighed in at only 129 3/4 for a fight against Jorge Solis early last year. Marquez will use Ramos for target practice in preparing for his third match against Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 12.
TV5 and Aksyon TV will air the Miranda-Viloria, Cuello-Soto and Farenas-Beltran fights at 3-5 p.m. today. Also, both channels will telecast the Marquez-Ramos bout from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aksyon TV will replay all the fights starting 6:30 p.m. tonight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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