Underdog Boxing: Segura is Viloria’s toughest opponent yet

source | GMA News | Boxing champions who are fresh from winning their titles are expected to take it easy in their next fight. To enjoy their championship, they often take on easier opponents in their hometowns just to savor their recent title winning performance. It is often said that a champion is not a real champion until he has defended his title at least once so new champions often opt for a voluntary defense of their titles.

Brian Viloria (29-3-0, 16 KOs) is not going through that route. In his first title defense of the WBO flyweight title he won from Julio Cesar Miranda, Viloria will be fighting against the toughest opponent he has ever had.

Giovani Segura (28-1-1, 24 KOs) is a one of the best fighters in boxing's lighter weight divisions. He has an outstanding knockout ratio of 80% and he has finished 11 victims in the very first round. Segura also has the distinction of beating all the fighters he has faced. He suffered a draw against Benjamin Garcia early in his career then lost to Cesar Canchila in 2008 but he defeated the two via knockout after the first fight.

The Mexican fighter nicknamed El Guerrero Azteca has taken on all comers in the junior flyweight division and has defeated them all. He faced Ivan Calderon, who was undefeated up until their first match, and knocked him out twice.

Segura has even openly said that he is looking to fight WBA flyweight champion Hernan “Tyson” Marquez after he is done with Viloria. He knows he has the capability to defeat the defending champion and he knows he can do it on foreign soil. He knows Viloria has never faced an opponent like him and even though they have sparred multiple times in the past, Segura knows he is a different animal when the fighting is for real.

However, Viloria relishes the underdog tag. He was a slight underdog against Eric Ortiz and he knocked him out in the first round for his first world title reign. He was a heavy underdog against Ulises Solis when they met here in Manila and Viloria also knocked him out for his second title reign.

He may be the champion coming into this fight but he is also coming in as an underdog. The script could not have been written any better for Viloria. Very few expect him to win; in fact, few expect him to survive the punching dynamo named Giovani Segura. But Viloria has always performed his best when the odds were against him. He always managed to shine when the lights were at their brightest.
Viloria needs to win this to prove his legitimacy. If he loses against Segura, history will forget about his win over Miranda. Boxing is a mean sport and Viloria has received his own share of criticism over the years. He needs this fight to exorcise all the ghosts of the past.

The plot has been perfectly set up. It is now up to Viloria to perform accordingly.

Carlo L. Pamintuan

Posted in: Boxing, viloria