VILORIA LOSES WBO/WBA TITLES TO ESTRADA, BUT MELINDO WINS AND EARNS A CRACK AT THE NEW CHAMPION
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 08 Apr 2013
Macau, China ? Brian Viloria lost his WBO and WBA flyweight titles to Mexican warrior Juan Francisco Estrada in a ferocious twelve round battle at the ultra modern COTAI ARENA of the fabulous Venetian Macao Resort Hotel in China.
However, the split decision loss of Viloria and the smashing 4th round TKO victory of No. 1 ranked Milan Melindo over rugged Indonesian Tommy Seran plus the impressive performances by the young Penalosa brothers Dave and Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr compensated for the disappointment of a large number of Filipinos who cheered our fighters on.
Viloria started confidently and out-boxed Estrada with an effective jab and excellent counter punches in the early rounds with a solid right in round one and a flurry at the end of round two helping the Filipino world champion take an early lead which he appeared to cushion with a solid right hand in the closing seconds of the third.
But a couple of low blows which drew a caution from referee Genaro Rodriguez in round five started the troubles of Viloria although Rodriguez allowed Estrada to get away with several low blows in the subsequent rounds and didn?t penalize him.
At the end of round five Viloria?s corner told him ?keep him (Estrada) at the end of your jab and don?t let him get confident? but after Viloria caught him with a big overhand right Estrada fought back furiously and hurt the champion with some wicked body shots and uppercuts especially when Viloria walked inside to slug it out.
At the end of six rounds former heavyweight champion George Foreman who did the commentary on HBO said he had the fight ?even so far with Estrada coming on.?
A hard right by Viloria in round seven and some good counter-punching that saw Estrada bleeding from his nose gave Viloria the edge in the seventh round but after another low blow that went unnoticed by the referee, Estrada picked up the tempo that resulted in a swelling under Viloria?s right eye at the end of round eight.
Despite a big right hand by Viloria, Estrada began to clearly out-punch the champion with ripping hooks to the body before Viloria, fed up of the low blows he received landed one of his own in retaliation that dropped the Mexican who was given a breather while the referee cautioned Viloria.
In round ten the younger legs of Estrada began to take its toll on Viloria who was ten years older even as Estrada rocked the shorter Filipino with a hard right who was also cut on the corner of his left eye.
Viloria tried gamely to go for a big shot but Estrada continued to beat him to the punch with a barrage of body shots and shots to the head which sapped the energy of Viloria right to the end of the fight.
Estrada showed amazing resilience and appeared stronger as the fight went on and hardly tired while throwing rapid-fire punches.
Judge Levi Martinez inexplicably scored the fight 115-113 for Viloria but it was wiped out by the lopsided scorecards of Michael Pernick (116-111) and Francisco Martinez 117.111 for Estrada.
The 32 year old Viloria, a three-time, two division world champion dropped to 32-4 with 19 knockouts while Estrada who was coming off a loss to the undefeated WBA light flyweight champion Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez on the same card in which Viloria won the WBA title with a smashing 10th round TKO of Hernan ?Tyson? Marquez improved to 23-2 with 18 knockouts in the process stopping Viloria?s winning run against a roster of top Mexican fighters including Giovanni Segura and Omar Nino Romero.
No. 1 contender Milan Melindo dropped rugged Indonesian Tommy Seran three times to score a smashing 4th round TKO to earn a mandatory title shot at Estrada which the Manila Standard understands is likely to be staged once again at the Venetian in Macau sometime in August or September.
Melindo who was described by promoter Bob Arum as a ?terrific fighter and you saw what kind of punching power he has? told a post-fight press conferene ?I saw the fight between Estrada and Viloria but he couldn?t knock Viloria out and I can handle him (Estrada). I will fix him.?
Viloria whose face was swollen, had stitches over both eyes and had his mouth busted told us ?I fought the wrong fight. Sorry I didn?t get the win but I?ll be back because I am known as the ?comeback kid?. This was a minor bump for me but I will train hard and become a champion once again."
The young Penalosa brothers Dave and Dodie Boy Jr, sons of former two division world champion Dodie Boy Penalosa and nephews of his younger brother, also a two division world champion Gerry Penalosa, put on an impressive performance that had Arum looking for a pen to sign them up right away.
Both southpaws, Dave began by demolishing Thailand?s Cheroenchai Sithsaithong winning by a scintillating knockout at :29 seconds of round two.
Dave dropped the Thai fighter with a left-right combination in the dying seconds of the opening round and the Thai was saved by the bell. The hard-hitting Penalosa nailed Cheroenchai with two devastating hooks to the body in round two to end the fight to the delight of the large number of Filipino fans who rocked the Cotai Arena with their cheers.
The super bantamweight was followed by older brother Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr, a super featherweight who survived a shock knockdown from a left straight in the opening round to crack Nimithra Sithsaithong with a terrific left hook to the body followed by a shot to the side of the head to send him crashing to the canvas in round two before a right to the chin and another devastating right helped him score a knockout at 2:5o of the fourth round.
Top Rank president Todd DuBeof told us ?the fans carried him (Dodie Boy Jr).?
Photo: WBO No. 1 flyweight contender Milan Melindo connects on Tommy Seran during their fight Saturday in Macau. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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