For Waipahu boxer Brian Viloria, it is what did happen that is more important than what didn't. [ BOXING ]
Viloria gets another belt
From staff and wire services
Viloria picked up the North American Boxing Federation flyweight title, surpassed five rounds for the first time and scored a unanimous decision over another experienced opponent.
But he barely had to lift a glove to achieve all of those goals.
"It was a little frustrating," Viloria said. "He didn't want to commit, didn't want to fight. Sometimes you get days like this."
Viloria (9-0, 6 KOs) chased Javier Lagos (14-8, 4 KOs) for 12 rounds, winning every one on all three judges' scorecards at Cipriani's Hotel in New York. He only landed 140 punches, a tiny number for the usually active Viloria. The problem was Lagos only landed 54, seeming content to stay away from the Olympian.
Viloria chased but never really caught Lagos, laying back and waiting for his foe -- who had to fly in from Houston and had only two days to prepare -- to decide to fight. He never did.
Viloria walked in on Lagos once in the seventh and twice in the eighth, but Lagos immediately clinched out of trouble. That was when Viloria decided to take the win and wait for a day when someone will stand up to him.
"I was pacing myself, being smart," Viloria said. "I didn't want to get caught. At the end I was getting a little too careless and could have got hit."
Viloria and his manager, Gary Gittelsohn, say they will have to defend against similar foes in the future, that as his reputation as a power puncher grows, it will be harder to find a flyweight willing to mix it up. But if they don't find one, Viloria will be prepared.
"We are going to go to the gym and prepare for fighters like this," Viloria said.
Regardless of how easily the title came, Viloria now has two championship belts -- he won the WBC Youth Flyweight title in February -- before anyone on his Olympic team has even fought for one. Viloria is still just one year and three months into his professional career, and knows that he still has a lot to learn.
"Brian was frustrated with the guy's style," said trainer Fred Roach, after learning that his fighter had landed just 28 of 109 jabs. "We knew he was a runner and a mover, but we had to go on with the fight.
"The good thing is that we got a lot rounds out of this, but both of us would have preferred a better opponent and a tougher fight."
