PRAYERS FOR GIOVANNI SEGURA
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 12 Dec 2011
Those of us that enjoy the sweet art and science of boxing should once in a while stop and reflect on what the sport does to the gallant warriors that put their lives on the line so that we can be entertained and in a few cases make some money as well.
That to my mind is the least we can do to pay our respects to these warriors.
Case in point:- Giovanni Segura
Giovanni Segura is a brave Mexican warrior that came to our far away shores to challenge the Hawaiian-born Filipino world champion Brian ?Hawaiian Punch? Viloria for his WBO 112 lbs. title.
Segura who is the former WBA and WBO light flyweight champion came up one weight division to provide the challenge. In fact, he gave up his belts so he can have an opportunity to fight Viloria.
No one can fault Segura for wishing to come up a few pounds and go for Viloria?s belt. In the business of boxing, those that toil in the lower weight divisions don?t make as much money as those that lurk in the heavier weights.
Therefore, even a climb up one step higher will significantly change the amount of money he can make to further secure his family?s future.
Many thought that Segura will make a perfect match against Viloria. He sports a very respectable record of 28-1-1, 24K0 prior to the Viloria fight and he is former world champion.
Segura in fact is the only fighter that scored knock-outs over the then much feared and undefeated Puerto Rican light flyweight champion, Ivan Calderon. That in itself can put fear in his opponents as no one else has beaten Calderon let alone knock him out twice.
When the fight was announced, many pundits and boxing fans thought that Viloria will be in a heap of trouble against Segura. In fact they made him an underdog insinuating that Viloria?s stamina is a big question to be answered. He run out of gas against Carlos Tamara and he may do the same against a heavier puncher in Segura.
But Viloria had other plans.
As he indicated after the fight, he was well aware of the ?stamina? issue so he prepared long and well to address the issue. His team made changes in his training regimen and perhaps even his diet.
Thus he came to the fight prepared for whatever Segura will bring.
When the fight started, it appears that the nay-sayers were right. Segura like the tiger that he was came out swinging. Viloria seemed tentative as he felt his way through Segura onslaught. He survived round one but lost it to Segura.
In round 2, things dramatically changed. Viloria suddenly started to out punch the forward moving Segura and landed many of his high powered counter left hooks. He landed so many of those punches that shook Segura to the core and started to produce a swell in the right temple just above the zygomatic bone area of Segura.
When Segura came to his corner after the round ended, the events that led to his defeat started to unfold.
Segura?s trainers from this writer?s point of view mis-managed the swelling. They kept on applying the ice cold ?no-swell? device improperly. They tried to spread the swelling to the surrounding area by pushing it aside. They of course reduced the thickness of the swelling but it spread it to the surrounding facial tissues making it worse as the fight continued.
In the succeeding rounds Viloria continued to target the area with his left hooks and each round the swelling became uglier. The injury impeded the ability to Segura to fight a better fight and from round three onwards, he failed to win a round.
Finally, as the 8th round unfolded Viloria landed another devastating left hook that threw Segura backwards and apparently helpless.
Referee Samuel Viruet decides that he has seen enough and wisely waved off the fight, Segura at that point had no chance to win. He cannot see too well from an almost shut right eye and Viloria was getting stronger as the fight progressed. Allowing Segura to continue will just expose him to unnecessary injuries. It was a good call from the referee.
Immediately after the fight, Segura was taken to a hospital for precautionary check-up. Word has it that he may have suffered a fractured orbital floor, the bone that supports the eye. Segura?s injury could be very serious, and he was advised not to leave immediately for home.
Luckily for Segura, the Philippines have some of the best doctors in the world. No matter what Segura suffered I am sure it can be handled with the highest quality of care by the Filipino doctors. Therefore, Segura should have no worry about that.
But it would also help if we the boxing fans will say a little prayer for Segura so he can recover soon enough to be home for Christmas with his family at the City of Bell just east of Los Angeles.
That is the least we can do to say thank you for the thrill and enjoyment he brought us by fighting a gallant fight.
Via Con Dios Giovanni!
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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