Brian Viloria says he’s learned from the past

For World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association flyweight champion Brian Viloria, even after twelve years as a professional and a few ups and downs and a serious test of will along the way, his love for the sport of boxing still remains.

Viloria continues to train religiously for his April 6 title defense at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated Hall-of-Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who occasionally steps in to give him pointers while leaving the task of handling Brian to his Filipino assistant Marvin Somodio, whom Roach recruited while he was working with Manny Pacquiao in Baguio City.

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Viloria and Somodio have hit it off well and Viloria thinks highly of the young trainer’s ability as he prepares for what is expected to be another war against a Mexican banger, Juan Francisco Estrada, at the plush Venetian Resort Hotel in Macau.

Twelve years and 35 fights may seem a little long for the former amateur, who represented the United States in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and lost in the second round on what was considered a controversial decision. But he still has a fire for the fight game, telling Yahoo! Philippines he is “still enjoying boxing.”

Brian says he’s making the necessary changes both in his mind and in his style “not only for being young in the sport but also maintaining the passion.”

Viloria has learned from the past, taking note of the mistakes he made along the way and implementing what he’s learned. He told us “I’m correcting mistakes and have been able to adjust to a lot of things.”

The most crucial adjustment if not decision he made was to shun the regimen of starving for a week to make the light flyweight limit after he suffered a stunning TKO loss to Panama’s Carlos Tamara on January 23, 2010 at the Cuneta Astrodome when referee Bruce McTavish had no choice but to stop the bout with just 90 seconds remaining with Viloria well ahead on the judges’ scorecards.

It was sudden as it was unexpected as Viloria appeared totally drained and fatigued as Tamara threw a flurry of punches with the then-IBF light flyweight champion unable to defend himself while lying against the ropes even though Tamara was by no means a big puncher.

Alarm bells rang when Viloria collapsed in his dressing room and had to be rushed to hospital where a group of specialists at the Makati Medical Center ran a battery of tests before pronouncing Viloria fit to resume his ring career after a couple of months rest.

It came as a great relief to Brian, his girlfriend at that time, Erica Navarro, and likeable manager Gary Gittelsohn who all through the years has treated Brian like a son.

After a sort of council meeting Viloria decided to continue his career by moving up in weight to the flyweight limit where he would be far more comfortable and wouldn’t have to starve himself to near death on the week of a fight just to make weight.

The decision soon paid off. After two tune-up fights, Viloria faced WBO flyweight champion Julio Cesar “Pingo” Miranda at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu which Brian chose in an effort to revive boxing in Hawaii since he spent many of his youthful years on the islands.

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Knowing that Viloria wanted a title shot badly, Miranda’s handlers effectively “bled” Gittelsohn who wanted desperately to give Viloria a chance to prove his worth even as he personally believed in him without question.

It was a financial sacrifice on Gittelsohn’s part with Viloria also taking a cut in his purse to help make the fight. It proved to be worthwhile as Viloria dropped the hard-hitting Mexican with a cracking right in the very first round en route to winning the title by a unanimous twelve-round decision.

Then came perhaps the biggest challenge as a flyweight when Viloria clashed with Ring Magazine pound-for-pound No.8 Giovanni Segura, a devastating puncher who had only one loss as against 28 wins with 24 knockouts.

Before local fight fans at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig, Viloria worked out what turned out to be a masterful game-plan as he out-boxed and out-punched the supposedly ferocious Mexican in a classic display of skill and power that forced referee Samuel Viruet to stop the massacre at 0:29 of the eighth round as Segura developed a grotesque swelling on his forehead.

The victory earned Viloria the recognition he had long been denied which he enhanced when he battered wily Omar Nino Romero to win by a 9th round TKO with two of the three judges scoring a shutout when the end came and the third judge having Viloria ahead 79-72.

It was sweet victory for Viloria who raised his passion to avenge a controversial loss in a WBC light flyweight title fight to Omar Nino Romero and was held to a majority draw in a rematch on November 18, 2006.

What probably irked Brian was that after Nino Romero tested positive for a banned substance the WBC inexplicably turned the decision into a “no-contest” rather than to award Viloria the win.

The revenge was clearly sweet.

Viloria was enjoying what appeared to be his re-birth or second coming as a fighter and had no hesitation in accepting an offer for a unification title fight against dangerous, power-punching Hernan “Tyson” Marquez of Mexico at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on November 17, 2012.

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Brian exuded a quiet confidence both at the pre-fight news conference and when we watched him spar at the Wild Card Gym. He knew what he had to do and figured out in his mind, how he would do it.

In an action-packed war that qualified for consideration as “Fight of the Year” Viloria and Marquez went after each other from the opening bell with fortunes swaying one way and then the other.

But Viloria’s timing and counter-punching were impeccable. He nailed Marquez with some vicious shots and dropped him in rounds one, five and ten before referee Dave Mendoza realized it was time to save the young Mexican from a further battering and called a halt at 1:01 of the tenth round.

Viloria, looking to enjoy the ride for a few more years even as he enjoys the training and the fights themselves, is looking to Estrada to want to slug it out, toe to toe because he’s got nothing to lose.

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.