Viloria loses belts via split decision
But other Pinoys win
The Hawaiian Punch simply lacked the punches this time.
Brian Viloria lost his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization flyweight titles, dropping a split decision to a game Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico in an action-packed bout at the Venetian Resort and Hotel in Macau.
One judge had it 115-113 for Viloria, while two others had it 116-111 and 117-111 for Estrada, who was coming off a tough unanimous decision loss to Roman Gonzalez for the WBO light flyweight title.
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Viloria started out strong and dominated the early goings, tagging the taller Estrada with well-placed right hooks and good counter-punching to dominate the first three rounds. The Mexican, who is ten years younger, became more active in the middle rounds before taking control starting in the eighth as Viloria simply ran out of gas and started leaning on Estrada to avoid being hit.
It was a sorry loss for the Hawaiian Punch, who was coming off two very impressive knockout wins but just didn’t have the same sting in his punches this time. He managed to bloody the nose of Estrada and cause a welt under the Mexican’s eye, but he was never able to follow through on his combinations.
Estrada improved to 23-2 with 18 knockouts, while Viloria dropped to 32-4 as he lost for the first time in three years.
In the main event witnessed by a reported 300 million television viewers from the mainland, Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming won his professional debut by hacking out a unanimous decision over Eleazar Valenzuela of Mexico in a four-rounder. All judges scored it 40-36 for the 31-year-old Zou, who is being groomed to be the next big Chinese sports star.
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The other Filipino fighters on the card did not go home empty-handed, though. Featherweight prospect Dodie Boy Penalosa, Jr. recovered from a surprising first-round knockdown to knock out Thailand’s Nimithra Sithsaithong in the third round.
Penalosa, whose father, Dodie Boy, Sr. was a world champion in the junior flyweight and flyweight divisions, hit the canvass in the opening round after absorbing a cracking left from Sithsaithong but returned the favor in the next round, flooring the Thai with a left of his own to even things up. The 22-year-old Cebu native finished off Sithsaithong at 2:54 of the third round with a powerful body shot that sent the Thai crumpling to the canvass.
Penalosa stretched his perfect record to 11 wins with 11 knockouts.
His brother David was also victorious, scoring a second-round knockout over Thai Cheroenchai Sithsaithong.
Unbeaten flyweight prospect Milan Melindo also scored an abbreviated victory, dropping Indonesia’s Tommy Seran in the first and second rounds before finishing him off in the fourth.
Not particularly known as a knockout artist, Melindo’s punching power was on full display in this bout. He knocked down Seran with a left hook in first round and, showing his versatility, sent him down again in the second, this time with a right hook. The end came at 2:38 of fourth when Melindo caught Seran with another powerful left. The Indonesian dropped to the canvass, tried to get up, but staggered towards the ropes, forcing the referee to wave off the fight.
Melindo improved his unbeaten slate to 29-0 with 12 knockouts.
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Japan’s Yasutaka Ishimoto won the WBO International super bantamweight title with a majority decision over Nonito Donaire victom Wlifredo Vazquez, Jr. of Puerto Rico. Ishimoto floored Vazquez at the end of the eighth round and that proved to be difference maker for the Japanese, who won via scores of 96-93, 95-94 and 95-95. Filipino referee Salven Lagumbay was the judge who gave the 96-93 score.
Rocky Martinez dropped challenger Diego Magdaleno in the fourth round to eke out a split decision and retain his WBO super featherweight title. One judge had it 115-112 for Magdaleno while two other judges scored it 116-111 and 114-113 for the Puerto Rican Martinez, who was making the second defense of belt.
