25.11.06 – By Wayne Joseph Tulio: In the sport of boxing, a fight that results in a draw is normally controversial but what happened in a recent fight is not as controversial as some say. In a rematch underneath the widely talked about ‘Grand Finale’ fight last Saturday, Omar Nino Romero retained his WBC Light Flyweight title against former champion Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria through a majority draw.
At the post fight press conference, Viloria was quoted saying he was robbed and immediately asked for a third fight against the slick Mexican. A third fight is a huge possibility since the 108- pound division is not a popular division and Viloria even though he managed the draw decision is one of the more recognizable names in that division.
Some writers and other experts are divided in their opinions regarding the fight last Saturday but a draw decision actually favors Viloria in fact he might even be lucky to get it.
In his first fight with Romero, The Hawaiian Punch was gun shy and opted to counter punch while the unknown Romero pressed the action and as a result snatched the title via unanimous decision. Saturday’s fight was slightly different though as Viloria floored Romero twice but some elements were pretty much the same.
Viloria was rather cautious and while reports prior to the fight stated that his training under Joe Hernandez proved to be beneficial as they practiced throwing attacking combinations, we hardly saw Viloria throw such. What was more apparent was Romero’s slick movement and his stiff left jab that landed on Viloria on numerous occasions and stunned the former champion.
During exchanges it was apparent that Viloria could take some of Romero’s best punches. He even busted Romero up with a cut during the fight yet something was just missing. Viloria threw a pawing type of jab as if just waiting for an opportunity to land a big one with his right and while he was doing this Romero was throwing body shots, using lots of movement and hence he won rounds over Viloria.
Although Viloria managed a convincing knockdown with a solid punch in the 9th and a flash one in the 5th round, he lacked the aggressiveness. Viloria waited for an elusive target and hence two of the judges felt he did not do enough to win the fight. Judge Dave Moretti even saw the fight to Romero’s favor. Not that Romero was the outright winner, he also did just enough to keep his title.
The last two rounds of the fight were the clincher rounds if Viloria went all out and at least try and dictate the pace of the fight, he would have won the fight. After scoring the second knockdown of the night, he was poised to regain the title he lost by being the non aggressor. Romero on his part did just enough to keep the title, he lost some rounds but he made sure he took the last two rounds, the championship rounds. In boxing they say, if you are the challenger, you literally have to take away that title by either taking all the rounds or knocking your opponent out. Viloria just lacked the aggressiveness to take away the title.
The Hawaiian punch is the much stronger puncher looking at the knock out percentage (Viloria has 12 KOS in 19 wins while Romero only has 10 in 24 wins) and could have landed that killer punch that earned him his nickname had he attacked enough to throw more combinations throughout the fight.
The option of a third fight might be considered by the Romero camp. If that happens, Viloria has to feel he really wants it and take it away from his opponent. Otherwise
Romero is going to move, stick that nice stiff left and throw in the same amount of body punches and walk away the winner.