Source: GMA News
Filipino-American Brian "The Hawaiian Punch" Viloria primed himself for another world title shot after scoring a seventh-round technical knockout (TKO) win over Thailand's Liempetch Sor Veerapol in the "Boxing at the Bay: Friday Fight Fest" at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The former 2000 Sydney Olympic Games gold medalist and former two-time world champion Viloria floored the Thai three times, two of which came in the eighth round, forcing Filipino referee Ferdie Estrella to halt the bout at 2:09.
The win hiked Viloria's record to 28 wins, 15 by knockout, and could earn him a mandatory shot at the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight crown of Mexican champion Julio Cesar Miranda.
Viloria, who only has three losses, is listed as the organization's No. 1 contender. His camp led by manager Gary Gittleson hopes to arrange for the fight as early as February or March.
"I felt pretty good," said Viloria, who turns 30 on November 23 and is scheduled to marry fiancee Erika Navarro on December 3.
"I worked a lot in the gym, especially with my body shots. I thought I need to improve on my combinations a little bit more but overall I think we did well."
The loss dropped Veerapol's record to 19-8-1. It was his third consecutive loss in the Philippines after dropping his first two matches to former world champion Marvin Sonsona and Johnriel Casimiro.
Viloria, wearing shiny green trunks with gold trimming, set the pace early in the match, connecting with solid rights and combinations in the first four rounds.
After receiving two UFC-type takedowns in the opening minutes of the fifth, Viloria countered with a series of body shots that sent Veerapol down in the 1:20 mark for the first knockdown of the 10-round bout.
Two rounds later, Viloria sealed Veerapol's fate when he connected with a left hook to the jaw that dropped the Thai to the canvass.
Veerapol managed to get up and beat Estrella's eight-count but Viloria let loose a number of blows to the Thai's head and body that sent him down anew, thus ending the match.
"He was really strong and it showed with his good conditioning," said Veerapol through an interpreter.
Triumphant Pinoys in undercards
Rodel Mayol, seeking to get back on the winning track after losing his world title, beat Thai Pompetch Twins Gym with a seventh-round stoppage in a one-sided match.
Mayol, who lost his World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight crown to Mexico's Omar Nino Romero after just one title defense early this year, improved his ring record to 26-5-2 with his 21st KO.
Denver "The Excitement" Cuello scored a first round TKO victory over Kongkrai Kiatpracha of Thailand in a match that succeeded Viloria's bout.
Cuello knocked down Kongkrai thrice in the first round, thus ending the action in just two minutes and eight seconds.
Many thought Manny Pacquiao was in action in one of the undercards but it turned out to be a deadringer for him in Al Sabaupan, who scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Arnel Dunal.
Marlon Tapales also beat Rey Migrino with a 10-round decision, while Edward Penerio did the same in eight rounds over Allan Ranada.
Source: gmanews.tv
-- Brian Viloria is now in stable condition after being rushed to the San Juan De Dios Hospital when the deposed champion complained of chest pains and a headache after his 12-round title match against Carlos Tamara of Colombia.
The Hawaiian Punch suffered a shocking 12th round TKO loss against his Colombian challenger to surrender the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world light-flyweight title belt to Tamara Saturday in the main event of the "Boxing at the Bay: Collision Course" at the Astrodome.
Viloria was a no-show during the post-fight press conference and was rushed to the San Juan De Dios Hospital, which is a few minutes away from the Astrodome, for a routine check-up.
He was later transferred to the Makati Medical Center since San Juan De Dios did not have the proper equipment to treat his injuries. Viloria is now in stable condition but still complaining of headache.
Even fellow Filipino champion Nonito Donaire Jr., the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight interim world champion, wished for Viloria’s speedy recovery in his Twitter account.
The former IBF world champion was in control for most of the match, showing patience and choosing his combinations well waiting for any possible opening from Tamara’s defense.
The crowd’s chants of "Viloria, Viloria" pumped up Viloria as the Hawaiian Punch turned up the pressure on Tamara and at times even pounded the Colombian challenger into a corner.
But Tamara, who did not stop throwing punches, showed incredible stamina and guts as he engaged Viloria in several strong exchanges that brought wild cheers from the pro-Filipino crowd.
Referee Bruce McTavish stopped the fight after Viloria, wobbly and on the verge of going down, received 14 unanswered punches from Tamara. The official time was 1:45 in the 12th round.
There were also reports that Viloria collapsed inside the dugout. Viloria even felt some chest pains inside his dugout after the fight, although he was already supposedly feeling well while on his way to the hospital.
Games and Amusements Board boxing chief Nasser Cruz said that the chest pain might be more psychological than physical on Viloria’s part.
Source: abs-cbnnews.com -- Loses IBF title to Colombian
Filipino boxer Brian Viloria is now in stable condition after being rushed to the hospital following his loss to Colombian challenger Carlos Tamara in their International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior flyweight title fight on Saturday.
Viloria was taken to the San Juan de Dios Hospital after collapsing in his dressing room due to exhaustion following his 12th round technical knockout (TKO) loss to Tamara.
He was later transferred to the Makati Medical Center where he underwent medical tests, including a CT scan.
“Right now he's stable,” Dr. Nasser Cruz of the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) told dzMM.
“They did a lot of medical test, CT scan was good, normal. They were worried about the cervical spine because Brian complained of neck pains. They did a scan also. They did chest X-rays,” he added.
Cruz said Viloria will have to stay in the hospital overnight for further observation.
"Boxers who have a difficult fight receive a lot of head punches. So they really have to stay in the hospital just like other boxers like [Oscar] dela Hoya, [Miguel] Cotto and [Ricky] Hatton," he said.
Viloria suffered a 3-centimeter cut on his right eyebrow during the fight. He also sustained bruises on his face because of the powerful blows from the Colombian boxer.
Tamara trailed until latter rounds
According to PhilBoxing.com, Tamara was actually trailing on the scorecards going into the 9th round, but started a scorching rally as Viloria faded in the late rounds.
The Colombian pinned an visibly exhausted Viloria on the ropes in the 12th round prompting referee Bruce McTavish to stop the fight at 1:45 of the round.
Viloria went down twice during in the 12th round. He was too weak to defend himself and opened himself to easy blows from Tamara in the last two rounds.
Sports analyst Ronnie Nathanielz told radio dzMM that Viloria must have been drained from his fight against Tamara.
“He was totally drained and I think that caused the problem for him,” Nathanielz said.
Meanwhile, two Filipinos -- Donnie "Ahas" Nietes and Jimrex Jaca -- won their undercard fights.
Nietes won by TKO in the 10th round of his non-title bout against Jesus Silvestre of Mexico. He decked Silvestre with a right uppercut in the opening round but the Mexican showed toughness and lasted until the 10th round.
Jaca beat Ramadhan Weiru of Indonesia by KO in the 5th round.
Source: Joaquin Henson, philstar.com
-- Seven-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao was the undisputed headline-maker in the sport this year and his status as the universal No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter paved the way for the most ever title bouts involving Filipinos during a 12-month period in history.
Pacquiao, 31, figured in only two bouts in 2009 but both were monumental. He knocked out England’s Ricky Hatton in two rounds to wrest the IBO lightwelterweight crown in Las Vegas last May then halted Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto in the 12th to capture the WBO welterweight title, also in Las Vegas, last month.
When the smoke cleared, Pacquiao emerged as the only fighter ever to win seven world titles in seven weight divisions, breaking out of a tie with Oscar de la Hoya, Tommy Hearns, Hector Camacho and James Toney who collected six.
For the year, there were 16 world championship bouts with Filipino protagonists. Filipino fighters won nine, lost five and drew two. Six Filipino world titlists reigned during a highly productive year – Pacquiao, WBO minimumweight Donnie Nietes, IBF lightflyweight Brian Viloria, WBC lightflyweight Rodel Mayol, IBF flyweight Nonito Donaire and WBO superflyweight Marvin Sonsona.
Today, only four Filipinos remain on top of the world – Pacquiao, Nietes, Viloria and Mayol. Donaire relinquished his IBF crown to annex the interim WBA superflyweight diadem while Sonsona lost his belt on the scales and was held to a draw by Mexico’s Alejandro Hernandez in what would have been his first title defense.
The Filipinos who won in world title fights were Pacquiao (over Hatton and Cotto), Nietes (over Erik Ramirez and Manuel Vargas, both in Mexico), Viloria (over Ulises Solis and Jesus Iribe), Mayol (over Edgar Sosa), Donaire (over Raul Martinez) and Sonsona (over Jose Lopez).
The losers were Juanito Rubillar (to Giovanni Segura for the WBA lightflyweight title), Mayol (to Ivan Calderon on a technical decision for the WBO lightflyweight title), Sonny Boy Jaro (to Segura), Eric Barcelona (to Simpiwe Vetyeka for the IBO bantamweight title) and Bernabe Concepcion (to Steven Luevano on a disqualification for the WBO featherweight title). Recording draws were Mayol (with Calderon) and Sonsona (with Hernandez).
At the end of the year, 26 Filipinos were listed in the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO world ratings. In the minimumweight 105-pound division were WBO champion Nietes, Denver Cuello (No. 4 WBC, No. 10 WBA, No. 12 IBF, No. 13 WBO), Milan Melindo (No. 1 WBO, No. 3 IBF, No. 3 WBA, No. 5 WBC) and Florante Condes (No. 6 IBF, No. 8 WBO, No. 15 WBC). The lightflyweights were IBF champion Viloria, WBC champion Mayol, Johnriel Casimero (No. 4 WBO), Jaro (No. 3 WBC, No. 7 WBO, No. 13 WBA, Juanito Rubillar (No. 7 WBC), Bert Batawang (No. 9 IBF) and Edren Dapudong (No. 3 WBO, No. 6 IBF, No. 11 WBA).
Richie Mepranum was the only Filipino ranked flyweight as the No. 8 WBA contender. The superflyweights were Z Gorres (No. 8 WBC, No. 10 WBA), A. J. Banal (No. 14 WBC, also No. 5 WBA, No. 5 IBF and No. 7 WBO bantamweight), Drian Francisco (No. 4 WBA, No. 6 WBO, No. 8 IBF), Fernando Lumacad (No. 9 IBF) and Federico Catubay (No. 12 IBF). The bantamweights were Michael Domingo (No. 7 IBF), Gerry Peñalosa (No. 2 WBO) and Jundy Maraon (No. 5 WBO).
Ranked in the superbantamweight 122-pound ladder were Ramie Laput (No. 4 WBO), Ciso Morales (No. 9 WBO) and Balweg Bangoyan (No. 11 WBC).Concepcion was the only Filipino rated featherweight at No. 4 by the WBO. Michael Farenas was ranked No. 15 superfeatherweight by the WBO and Mark Jason Melligen, No. 15 superlightweight by the WBA. Pacquiao is recognized as the welterweight titleholder by the WBO. Curiously missing in the ratings were Donaire and Sonsona.
Interim world champions by year-end were Donaire and WBO lightflyweight Casimero.
Pacquiao’s influence opened the window for Filipino fighters to display their wares in the undercard of his two Las Vegas bouts this year. In the Pacquiao-Hatton undercard, Concepcion pounded out a six-round decision over Colombia’s Yogli Herrera. In the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard, Eden Sonsona stopped Israel’s Eilon Kedem while Mepranum outpointed Colorado’s Ernie Marquez.
Pacquiao also provided the push for Top Rank to stage “Pinoy Power 2” at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas last August where Donaire beat Panama’s Rafael Concepcion, Mark Jason Melligen knocked out Mexico’s Ernesto Zepeda and Concepcion lost to Luevano. In another Las Vegas card last month, Z Gorres lost consciousness after decisioning Colombia’s Luis Melendez, Melligen bowed to Mexico’s Michel Rosales and Catubay was trounced by Mexico’s Juan Alberto Rosas.
Boxing enjoyed a renaissance on Philippine shores. Solar Sports produced “Pinoy Power 1” with Donaire and Viloria as the main eventers in separate encounters at the Big Dome last April then got its new series “Boxing at the Bay” off to a strong start with Francisco mowing down Panama’s Roberto Vasquez at the Cuneta Astrodome last October. There were also major shows in Cebu, Tagbilaran City, Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro, Ozamiz City, Davao City and Kidapawan.
Additionally, Pacquiao perked up even more interest in local boxing by training for Cotto several weeks with Freddie Roach and Colombian conditioning coach Alex Ariza in Baguio City. While in the City of Pines, Pacquiao drew hordes of visitors – including Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.
Among future world champions, ALA Boxing Gym’s Banal and Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista continued to make headway in their rise to the top. Banal, 20, chalked up three wins this year, trouncing Nouldy Manakane, Mbwane Matumla and Jose Beranza to raise his record to 20-1-1, with 16 KOs. Bautista, 23, ended almost a year’s layoff to recover from hand surgery and stopped Indonesia’s Maragin Marbun for the vacant WBC International featherweight title to improve his record to 27-2, with 20 KOs.
On a sad note, Gorres underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his skull after the Melendez fight in Las Vegas. He will no longer be able to fight. And last September, Pacquiao’s former business manager Rod Nazario passed away at the age of 74.
Next year, more Filipinos are expected to see action in world title fights. On Jan. 23, Viloria will defend his IBF 108-pound title against Colombia’s Carlos Tamara and Nietes will stake his WBO 105-pound crown against Mexico’s Ivan Meneses at the Cuneta Astrodome. Morales will challenge WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas and Marvin Sonsona is likely to take on Puerto Rico’s Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. for the vacant WBO superbantamweight crown in San Juan in March. Pacquiao will be back in the ring, maybe against Floyd Mayweather Jr. or WBA superwelterweight king Yuri Foreman, in March. Eden Sonsona, Melindo, Francisco, Donaire, Casimero and Banal are close to sealing title shots in what promises to be another successful chapter in Philippine boxing history next year.
Source: gmanews.tv
-- Nonito “The Filipino Flash" Donaire, Jr. has hooked up with the trainer of compatriot Brian Viloria for his defense of the World Boxing Association interim super flyweight title against Mexico’s Gerson Guerrero on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas.
Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs) said Garcia, a former IBF super featherweight champion turned trainer, will help prepare his “mental game" against Guerrero (34-8 26 KOs).
The Peñalosa brothers, Jonathan and Dodie Boy, who trained Donaire when he won the WBA interim crown over an overweight Rafael Concepcion of Panama last August, will still be around and will join hands with Mike Bazzel in whipping Donaire into shape for the bout.
“I added Robert Garcia to the team as the mental part of my game," Donaire wrote in his latest blog posted on his official website.
“The Peñalosas are still with me and I respect them very much. But they will be working on my boxing conditioning, as well as Mike Bazzel working on my conditioning. I know people got confused. But Garcia is a very smart coach and I believe we can take my game to the next level together," he added.
Garcia, who also counts Steven Luevano, Victor Ortiz and Joan Guzman among his fighters, is credited for guiding Viloria back to the boxing elite. Under Garcia, Viloria managed to rediscover his competitive fire and snag the IBF light-flyweight strap from long-time champ Ulises Solis last April via 11th round KO last April. He retained the strap with his unanimous decision disposal of Mexico’s Jesus Iribe four months later in Hawaii.
Donaire will topbill Pinoy Power 3 at the Las Vegas Hilton, a power-packed card that also features veteran Gerry Peñalosa against Eric Morel in a WBO bantamweight eliminator; Ciso Morales against WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel; and Bernabe Concepcion against Puerto Rico’s Mario Santiago in a 10-round featherweight showdown.
Source: Joaquin Henson, philstar.com
-- In a bold move to bring Las Vegas-style boxing to the country, Solar Sports plans to stage four to five cards here next year and give Filipino fans the opportunity to witness champions and rising stars in live action.
Solar chief operating officer Peter Chanliong said after recently signing Manny Pacquiao to a contract extension up to 2013 for the exclusive TV rights to his bouts, the network decided to put more emphasis on the “Boxing at the Bay” series which began with unbeaten superflyweight Drian Francisco’s 10th round demolition of Panama’s Roberto Vasquez at the Cuneta Astrodome last October.
Chanliong said Solar pre-terminated its Top Rank contract with two years left for “economic” reasons because it now made more business sense to shift business strategies to concentrate on Pacquiao and stage live events in the country.
“We talked with (Top Rank chairman) Bob Arum about it and we agreed it was to our mutual benefit to move forward with this shift in strategy,” said Chanliong. “Bob eventually signed a deal with ABS-CBN for his Top Rank fights. However, we remain closely involved with Bob and Top Rank in relation to Manny’s fights.”
Solar’s strategic shift, however, does not preclude its involvement in other overseas fights involving either Filipino or foreign fighters. For instance, it will continue to support former WBO superflyweight champion Marvin Sonsona’s fights here or abroad.
While Solar has the exclusive rights to Pacquiao’s fights until 2013, its contract to link up with the GMA network for the free TV airing of the icon’s bouts ends in two years.
Solar is no stranger to live events. Last April, it staged the highly successful “Fast and the Furious” card where Brian Viloria and Nonito Donaire shared top billing at the Araneta Coliseum. Then, it co-produced a big show in Honolulu headlining Viloria’s defense of his IBF lightflyweight crown against Mexico’s Jesus Iribe last August.
Solar vice president Ralph Roy said the “Boxing at the Bay” series got off to a strong start with Francisco’s disposal of Vasquez and will be a continuing program to highlight promising Filipino fighters and world titlists.
The first “Boxing at the Bay” show next year will feature Viloria taking on Colombian challenger Carlos Tamara and WBO minimumweight champion Donnie Nietes facing Mexico’s Ivan (Pollito) Meneses in the fourth defense of his 105-pound crown on Jan. 23 at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The double world championship card will be held on a Saturday morning to catch the live US pay-per-view audience on prime time.
“If our fights are at 12 noon, it’ll be 8 p.m. in Los Angeles and 11 p.m. in New York so we’ll be able to reach both the US West and East Coasts on prime time,” said Roy. “Our whole idea is to bring Las Vegas to the Philippines. Only a few Filipinos are able to fly to Las Vegas to watch our Filipino fighters in world title bouts so we’re turning things around.”
Viloria, 29, will meet Tamara, 26, in a rare battle of Olympians. Viloria fought in the 2000 Sydney Games while Tamara saw action in Athens four years later.
Viloria has not lost in his last seven outings and is making the second defense of the IBF crown he wrested from Ulises Solis on a sensational 11th round knockout at the Araneta Coliseum last April. His record is 26-2, with 15 KOs.
Tamara, ranked No. 7 by the IBF, has won his last three outings. His record is 20-4, with 14 KOs. He holds a win over Alejandro Hernandez who fought Sonsona to a draw in Canada recently.
Nietes, 27, has repulsed challengers Eddy Castro, Erik Ramirez and Manuel Vargas since claiming the vacant WBO title by outpointing Thailand’s Pornsawan Porpramook in Cebu two years ago. His record is 25-1-3, with 14 KOs.
Meneses is ranked No. 11 by the WBO, No. 8 by the WBC and No. 11 by the WBA. A hard-hitter, he knocked out Giovanny Delgado in one round, Sergio Diaz in two and dropped Jose Figueroa twice en route to a win on points last June. His record is 14-5-1, with eight KOs.
“We can’t take Meneses lightly,” said ALA Boxing Gym owner Tony Aldeguer whose son Michael is Nietes’ registered manager. “But Donnie is used to fighting Mexicans even at their own turf. Donnie will go for a knockout as he usually does. His biggest asset is his mental toughness and great attitude.”
Nietes went to Mexico to beat hometowners Ramirez and Vargas in his last two defenses. Ramirez was floored four times in losing a decision while Vargas lost via a split decision. Nietes narrowly survived home cooking in beating Vargas as one judge saw it 116-112 for the Mexican while the other two scored it 118-110 and 116-110 for the Filipino.
