HAWAIIAN GRIT
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 19 Nov 2012
For four rounds, the unification bout seemed headed for a blowout. WBO flyweight champion Brian 'The Hawaiian Punch' Viloria had WBA flyweight champion Hernan ?Tyson' Marquez down in the opening round. Viloria was outboxing Marquez and landing hard body shots.
Marquez came alive in the fifth, unleashing hell and Viloria staggered and sought refuge on the ropes.
For fans and sportswriters who saw him lose his world light flyweight titles twice, this brought back bad memories.
But just like in his recent fights, Viloria showed that he is made of sterner stuff. He found the strength to bounce back with a huge right hook and the Mexican was down again.
But Marquez lived up to his Mexican warrior pedigree. He kept his pressure and Viloria looked faded in the ninth round. In the tenth, Marquez pinned Viloria on the ropes but Viloria sent the Mexican down a third time with a well-timed left hook to the head.
Marquez beat the count but Viloria continued to pummel him prompting Marquez' trainer Robert Garcia to throw in the towel.
More than just rebuilding and retooling, Viloria has also mastered the mental side of the fight game.
The 31 year old Viloria, who traces his roots to Narvacan, Ilocos Sur but grew up in Waipahu, Hawaii, improves to 32W-3L, 19 KO's while Marquez drops to his third career loss at 34W-3L, 25 KO's.
He may have a hard time trying to get the attention of the networks in the U.S., but here in the Philippines, the intensity and punch volume of the lower weight divisions have always been appreciated.
There are differing opinions among Filipino fans and pundits as to whether or not he should face mandatory challenger Milan Melindo. But we have not seen an all-Filipino world title fight waged on Philippine shores since 1925. That is something both camps should consider. That could very well herald that Philippine boxing has indeed entered a golden age.
CAN DRIAN GET A TITLE SHOT?
In the undercards, Drian "Gintong Kamao" Francisco of the Philippines scored a 5th round stoppage win over Javier Gallo of Mexico. Francisco has gotten a lot of media mileage from this bout and we hope his management team can convert this into a world title shot by next year.
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