In what is for me the fight of the weekend WBA "super" and WBO Flyweight champion Brian Viloria (32-3-0-2,19) defends his titles against teak tough Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada (22-2, 18). This fight might be seen as a mismatch by many though it's a fight I think all will agree will be fun as long as it lasts with a lot of action and some fantastic exchanges.
Viloria may not be seen by Ring Magazine as the best Flyweight on the planet though generally fans and the wider boxing media seem to have acknowledged his achievements and placed him on an official #1 place at 112lbs. He has proven his ability time and time again and in recent years has been on one of the best runs in the sport with victories against a genuine who's who.
Since turning professional in 2001 the 32 year old Viloria has had a genuine up and down career that now seems to be up (and staying up). He has claimed the WBC and IBF Light Flyweight titles as well as his current WBO and WBA "super" titles at Flyweight but he has also suffered defeats at the hands of Omar Nino Romero, Edgar Sosa and Carlos Tamara.
At his best Viloria is a boxer-puncher who can do both excellently. He can out box most and he can out punch most though he's had issues with his identity in the ring and has often tried fighting as a puncher and as a boxer which has often been when he has struggled. When he's stuck to one style of fighting however Viloria has proven to be excellent with power, skills, movement and a real toughness to him. It's these attributes that have have seen him defeating the likes Alberto Rossel, Gilberto Keb Baas, Eric Ortiz, Jose Antonio Aguirre, Ulises Solis, Julio Cesar Miranda, Giovani Segura, Omar Nino Romero and Hernan Marquez.
At the top level Viloria's ability is well known though his opponent, the 22 year old Estrada, is much less well known despite being in a Fight of the Year contender in 2012 against Roman Gonzalez. Estrada proved against Gonzalez that he can take a punch (my God did he prove that) and had the fighters heart to come back with his own shots in a some what typical Mexican warrior fashion. Not only did he take the best of Gonzalez (who I rate highly) but he also ran Gonzalez very close in a thoroughly engaging and competitive bout.
As well as his loss to Gonzalez, Estrada has also been beaten by Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr, also by decision. Although Estrada and Gonzalez fought at 108lbs Estrada is going up to Flyweight for this bout, the same weight that he fought Sanchez Jr at and we wonder if he'll actually be the smaller man in the ring with Viloria who himself made his name at Light Flyweight. In fact I wouldn't be shocked if Estrada looked the bigger man having fought as high as 118lbs before.
In the ring Estrada is a tough and hard working fighter who can be out boxed by a clever fighter but he doesn't seem to ever get discouraged and his recuperative abilities are amazing. You can rock him, you can hurt him but you can't make him fold, and you'll have to make sure he doesn't get to unload too many on you in return because he has genuinely hurtful power of his own.Admittedly however, Estrada's best wins are against C level fighters like Ardin Diale though he certainly has proved himself in both of his losses, both to current world champions.
It's easy to say that "Viloria will destroy Estrada" but for me this bout isn't that simple and in fact I see Viloria being pushed hard by Estrada who may manage to make this in to a bit of a battle of attrition. If Estrada can take Viloria's power (and that is admittedly a huge if) he could well score an upset late against a tiring Viloria, though if Viloria, who is a very clean puncher, can land his shots and have an effect on Estrada early it may be a case of the referee saving a very brave Mexican challenger.
With the Viloria win being the "obvious one" I'll actually go against the tide and go with Estrada.
Prediction-Estrada TKO11 in a FOTY candidate.
Showing posts with label Brian Viloria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Viloria. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Brian Viloria v Hernan Marquez
In the stand out match up of the weekend, if not the year, WBO Flyweight champion Brian Viloria (31-3-0-2, 18) faces hard hitting WBA Flyweight champion Hernan "Tyson" Marquez (34-2, 25) in a bout that oozes with quality on paper and in the mind. Whilst this may not be a high-profile mega fight in terms of the wider public, for boxing fans like myself this is something special, a real hardcore fans wet dream.
2000 US Olympian Brian Viloria has long been one of the sports most under-rated fighter. Aged 31 he knows that a loss now can derail a career that he has tried hard to rebuild after numerous set backs. Those setbacks however have helped develop the fighter that Viloria has become, they've helped cut out the mistakes, and issues that plagued Viloria through out his career and have genuinely helped him to become one of the premier fighters in the sport.
Viloria turned professional in 2001 after competing in the 2000 Olympic Games. Although Viloria failed to medal in the Games he had proven himself to be a top level amateur having won the World Amateur Championships in 1999. Since turning professional he has become one of the most exciting men in the little divisions with the ability to both bang and to box. Sadly however it's the fact he can do both which had been his issue as he's often found himself stuck between the two mindsets as opposed to showing off his skills at one, or the other.
Throughout his 11 year career Viloria has genuine been there done that. He has faced multiple current, former or future world champions. Those included two fights with Alberto Rossel (going 1-0-0-1 against Rossel) and one with Gilberto Keb Baas (going 1-0) as Viloria was climbing the rankings on the way to claiming his first world title in 2005 when he stopped Eric Ortiz for the WBC Light Flyweight title.
Sadly for Viloria his first title reign was short lived and after successfully defending his title once, out pointing Jose Antonio Aguirre, he would suffer his first loss being out-pointed by Omar Nino Romero. This loss started a dark part for Viloria who struggled in a rematch with Romero (a bout that was declared a no-contest after Romero failed a drugs test) and lost to Edgar Sosa. Those results saw Viloria going from unbeaten to 19-2-0-2 and a fighter who really was having major questions asked about how good he was.
Rather than sulking, Viloria took a step away from the big stage and fought in number of confidence building bouts, disappearing from the world stage for 2 years before reclaiming a world title by stopping Ulises Solis in 11 rounds. Again however, Viloria's reign as champion came to an untimely end as he lost in his second defense, being stopped by Carlos Tamara in the final round. This bout saw Viloria being left with a lot of questions as he appeared to blow his load and was clearly exhausted in the championship rounds prior to being stopped.
Since the loss to Tamara, Viloria has tried to correct his flaws. He's no-longer a fighter who can't choose what to do, he's instead molded the features of his game together. He's become a boxer-puncher, a fighter who can move and hit, but moves and hits hard. He no longer blows himself out, instead picking his shots carefully. This slight change in style has seen Viloria claiming the WBO Flyweight title and picking up wins over Julio Cesar Miranda (UD12), Giovani Segura (TKO8) and Omar Nino Romero (TKO9) as he goes into this bout with Marquez.
Although questions remain about Viloria's stamina, especially late on, he appears to have slowed down slightly in recent bouts, using better ring control and a more controlled pace to win bouts. He no longer goes for broke when he has an opponent hurt, something he did in the past and instead boxes to find opportunities to land his power shots. Despite his record, suggesting he's only an average puncher, Viloria hits hard, he hits clean and he can hurt anyone in the Flyweight division, though the big question is whether or not he can do it if forced to fight at a high tempo.
Of course this fight isn't all about Viloria but also about WBA champion Hernan Marquez. Hailing from Mexico, the Southpaw, known as "Tyson" is also a fighter who has come back from adversity and losses to build up a real reputation as one of the monsters of the lighter divisions.
Aged just 24, Marquez has a lot of time to come back from a loss, however he'll not be thinking about that going going in to this fight. Instead the hard hitting and thoroughly exciting youngster will be thinking that this is his opportunity to make a real name for himself. Despite his age, Marquez has been a professional for over 7 years and is hugely experienced for someone so young with 161 rounds behind and the same amount of fights as Viloria has (though Viloria does have many, many more rounds under his belt).
Marquez started his career with 27 straight wins, albeit it mostly against limited opposition, before losing twice in 2010. The first of those loses, a minor upset, came against Filipino Richie Mepranum who was simply too active for an off colour Marquez who was fighting outside of his native Mexico for the first time. Just months later Marquez would lose again, this time being stopped by Nonito Donaire, again outside of his homeland in a WBA "interim" world title bout at Super Flyweight.
Since those two losses Marquez has rebuilt his career well running up 7 successive wins, including his first outside of Mexico, where he beat Luis Concepcion for the WBA Flyweight title in a real tear up. As well as defending his title twice (stopping Luis Concepcion again and stopping Edrin Dapudong) Marquez has also earned revenge over Richie Mepranum in those recent wins.
In terms of his style Marquez is a warrior with a nasty mean streak and really hurtful power. He is not only a hard hitting brawler but he is actually an under-rated boxer who has a solid defense and when he gets tagged he knows how to fight back, as he showed in the first bout with Concepcion. He can fight at a high pace if needed and will certainly look to dictate the pace against Viloria however he may not be able to ask the questions about Viloria's stamina with the fact he himself, has never been 12 rounds. Going into this bout, Marquez will certainly feel like he's the puncher and will want to set off at a high pace trying to force the bout into a war from the off, if he can do this he may feel he can break down Viloria.
On paper this is a bit of a brawler v boxer type of match up. Sure both men are very talented and both can bang but though it's a matter of who can control the pace and distance of the bout. If Marquez can make it a war early on he may face his chances of breaking down Viloria as he did to Concepcion in their first bout. In fact if Marquez can force Viloria to fight at a high tempo he could even come on strong and copy what Carlos Tamara did to Viloria. If instead Viloria can control the distance and fight at a slower, more controlled pace he should be able to take a clear decision. Wonderfully however their is a third option, and the option that I think many fans are hoping for, both guys will meet each other in the centre of the ring and unload on each other in a test of intestinal fortitude. If we get the third option, well, anything could happen.
I tend to feel that Viloria's superior boxing will be the difference here, but don't expect him to win with out at least a few hairy moments.
Prediction-Viloria UD
2000 US Olympian Brian Viloria has long been one of the sports most under-rated fighter. Aged 31 he knows that a loss now can derail a career that he has tried hard to rebuild after numerous set backs. Those setbacks however have helped develop the fighter that Viloria has become, they've helped cut out the mistakes, and issues that plagued Viloria through out his career and have genuinely helped him to become one of the premier fighters in the sport.
Viloria turned professional in 2001 after competing in the 2000 Olympic Games. Although Viloria failed to medal in the Games he had proven himself to be a top level amateur having won the World Amateur Championships in 1999. Since turning professional he has become one of the most exciting men in the little divisions with the ability to both bang and to box. Sadly however it's the fact he can do both which had been his issue as he's often found himself stuck between the two mindsets as opposed to showing off his skills at one, or the other.
Throughout his 11 year career Viloria has genuine been there done that. He has faced multiple current, former or future world champions. Those included two fights with Alberto Rossel (going 1-0-0-1 against Rossel) and one with Gilberto Keb Baas (going 1-0) as Viloria was climbing the rankings on the way to claiming his first world title in 2005 when he stopped Eric Ortiz for the WBC Light Flyweight title.
Sadly for Viloria his first title reign was short lived and after successfully defending his title once, out pointing Jose Antonio Aguirre, he would suffer his first loss being out-pointed by Omar Nino Romero. This loss started a dark part for Viloria who struggled in a rematch with Romero (a bout that was declared a no-contest after Romero failed a drugs test) and lost to Edgar Sosa. Those results saw Viloria going from unbeaten to 19-2-0-2 and a fighter who really was having major questions asked about how good he was.
Rather than sulking, Viloria took a step away from the big stage and fought in number of confidence building bouts, disappearing from the world stage for 2 years before reclaiming a world title by stopping Ulises Solis in 11 rounds. Again however, Viloria's reign as champion came to an untimely end as he lost in his second defense, being stopped by Carlos Tamara in the final round. This bout saw Viloria being left with a lot of questions as he appeared to blow his load and was clearly exhausted in the championship rounds prior to being stopped.
Since the loss to Tamara, Viloria has tried to correct his flaws. He's no-longer a fighter who can't choose what to do, he's instead molded the features of his game together. He's become a boxer-puncher, a fighter who can move and hit, but moves and hits hard. He no longer blows himself out, instead picking his shots carefully. This slight change in style has seen Viloria claiming the WBO Flyweight title and picking up wins over Julio Cesar Miranda (UD12), Giovani Segura (TKO8) and Omar Nino Romero (TKO9) as he goes into this bout with Marquez.
Although questions remain about Viloria's stamina, especially late on, he appears to have slowed down slightly in recent bouts, using better ring control and a more controlled pace to win bouts. He no longer goes for broke when he has an opponent hurt, something he did in the past and instead boxes to find opportunities to land his power shots. Despite his record, suggesting he's only an average puncher, Viloria hits hard, he hits clean and he can hurt anyone in the Flyweight division, though the big question is whether or not he can do it if forced to fight at a high tempo.
Of course this fight isn't all about Viloria but also about WBA champion Hernan Marquez. Hailing from Mexico, the Southpaw, known as "Tyson" is also a fighter who has come back from adversity and losses to build up a real reputation as one of the monsters of the lighter divisions.
Aged just 24, Marquez has a lot of time to come back from a loss, however he'll not be thinking about that going going in to this fight. Instead the hard hitting and thoroughly exciting youngster will be thinking that this is his opportunity to make a real name for himself. Despite his age, Marquez has been a professional for over 7 years and is hugely experienced for someone so young with 161 rounds behind and the same amount of fights as Viloria has (though Viloria does have many, many more rounds under his belt).
Marquez started his career with 27 straight wins, albeit it mostly against limited opposition, before losing twice in 2010. The first of those loses, a minor upset, came against Filipino Richie Mepranum who was simply too active for an off colour Marquez who was fighting outside of his native Mexico for the first time. Just months later Marquez would lose again, this time being stopped by Nonito Donaire, again outside of his homeland in a WBA "interim" world title bout at Super Flyweight.
Since those two losses Marquez has rebuilt his career well running up 7 successive wins, including his first outside of Mexico, where he beat Luis Concepcion for the WBA Flyweight title in a real tear up. As well as defending his title twice (stopping Luis Concepcion again and stopping Edrin Dapudong) Marquez has also earned revenge over Richie Mepranum in those recent wins.
In terms of his style Marquez is a warrior with a nasty mean streak and really hurtful power. He is not only a hard hitting brawler but he is actually an under-rated boxer who has a solid defense and when he gets tagged he knows how to fight back, as he showed in the first bout with Concepcion. He can fight at a high pace if needed and will certainly look to dictate the pace against Viloria however he may not be able to ask the questions about Viloria's stamina with the fact he himself, has never been 12 rounds. Going into this bout, Marquez will certainly feel like he's the puncher and will want to set off at a high pace trying to force the bout into a war from the off, if he can do this he may feel he can break down Viloria.
On paper this is a bit of a brawler v boxer type of match up. Sure both men are very talented and both can bang but though it's a matter of who can control the pace and distance of the bout. If Marquez can make it a war early on he may face his chances of breaking down Viloria as he did to Concepcion in their first bout. In fact if Marquez can force Viloria to fight at a high tempo he could even come on strong and copy what Carlos Tamara did to Viloria. If instead Viloria can control the distance and fight at a slower, more controlled pace he should be able to take a clear decision. Wonderfully however their is a third option, and the option that I think many fans are hoping for, both guys will meet each other in the centre of the ring and unload on each other in a test of intestinal fortitude. If we get the third option, well, anything could happen.
I tend to feel that Viloria's superior boxing will be the difference here, but don't expect him to win with out at least a few hairy moments.
Prediction-Viloria UD
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