Segura vs Viloria: Brian Anticipates Danger, Hungry To Win
A roster of Mexican boxing legends are arriving in Manila for WBO flyweight champion Brian Viloria’s mandatory title defense against hard-hitting Mexican Giovanni Segura at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Metro Manila on December 11.
Among the latest to join the roster of superstars flying in to Manila is WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the acknowledged “Son of the Legend” Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. who will do the TV commentary for Mexican audiences alongside another legend, Marco Antonio Barrera.
The title fight will be held in the morning in order to satisfy the demand of pay-per-view audiences in Mexico and the United States.
Viloria, a three-time world champion won the WBO title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Mexico’s rugged Julio Cesar “Pingo” Miranda last July 16 at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii with one judge, Robert Hoyle scoring the bout by a lopsided 117-110 margin for Viloria. Hoyle is the same judge who scored the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III a 114-114 draw.
Viloria won his first world title with a sensational 1st round knockout of Eric Ortiz at the Staples enter on September 10, 2005. After losing the title by a controversial twelve round decision to Omar Nino FRomero on August 10, 2006 in Las Vegas, Viloria came back with a spectacular 11th round knockout of Ulises Solis at the Araneta Coliseum on April 19, 2009 to win the IBF title.
After losing the title in a stunning 12th round TKO to Carlos Tamara of Panama on January 23, 2010 Viloria who was having problems making the 108 pound limit decided to move up to 112 and promptly won the WBO flyweight crown.
The 31 year old Viloria, a former US Olympian with a record of 29-3 with 16 knockouts said he plans to hold on to his title much longer than in the past but is expected to be involved in a ring war with Segura.
The 29 year old Segura has a record of 28-1-1 with 24 knockouts and is best known for his two dominating victories over former undefeated champion Ivan Calderon of Puerto Rico.
In their first encounter in Calderon’s hometown, Segura won by an 8th round knockout on August 28, 2010 and in the rematch in Mexico Segura dominated Calderon to win by a 3rd round knockout on April 2, 2011.
Last June, Segura fought a keep-busy fight in the super flyweight division where he knocked out Eddy Zuniga in a single round. He has an amazing 80% knockout ratio but he has proven that fighting the whole 12 rounds will not be a problem for him.
“I’ve sparred with Segura in the past and we beat the hell out of each other,” said Viloria. “It was the kind of sparring where we could have charged the audience for an entrance fee and they wouldn’t have complained.”
On December 10, these two fighters will get to do the real thing. This fight is a potential fight of the year candidate as the two fighters will surely come out to brawl. The Viloria-Segura tiff has generated a lot of interest from the boxing world as the two are ranked highly in their own divisions. The two fighters have proven time and again that they belong to the top tier of fighters and a win over the other will definitely catapult them higher in the pound-for-pound rankings.
“Segura is a very dangerous opponent for me but if I beat him, I’ll get to keep my title and grab his slot in Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings,” said Viloria.
The supporting main event for the Viloria-Segura title fight will feature veteran Mexican fighter Martin Honorio (31-6-1, 16 KOs) versus Fahsai Sakkreerin (36-2-0, 20 KOs) of Thailand for the IBF interim super featherweight title.
Al Sabaupan (17-0-1 12 KOs) vs Roy Muklis (23-3-2 18 KOs Indonesia) IBF Pan Pacific Championship.
Lolito Sonsona (17-0-1 12 KOs) vs Arden Diale (16-6-3 4KOs) Philippine Flyweight Championship.
By Ronnie Nathanielsz