Viloria Gives Title Away--Nino Takes It
Omar Nino-Romero upsets the "Hawaiian Punch" for WBC Light Flyweight title

Ringside by Albert Howell and by Victor Perea

Photos by Chris Cozzone
Fightnews / FightWire Images

Wearing a Filipino flag on one leg and a American flag on the other, proud Filipino-American and WBC Light Flyweight Champion Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria entered the ring with his usual hula girls and "Hawaii 5-0" song blaring overhead on Thursday night at the Top Rank-promoted show at at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

With the majority of the crowd behind him as he entered the first round, the undefeated Viloria calmly sized up his opponent, landed several clean shots by counter punching aggressive-but-ineffective challenger Omar Nino-Romero.

It was “so far, so good” for the young champion, making only his second title defense. With future Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, it would seem obvious that Viloria would come out for the second round bell with every answer he needed to easily finish the overmatched Romero.

With two of Romero’s last four victories against fighters who had no wins on their records, the stage was set for Viloria to impress his adopted hometown fans and lay the tracks to a belt-unifying bout versus WBA Light Flyweight Champion Koki Kameda.

Unfortunately, for the defending champion, Romero proved harder to break down than expected.

After the first round, fans watched as a hungrier, more aggressive Romero (24-2-1, 10 KOs), fighting with a hunger for the WBC title belt, handed Viloria his first loss in a stunning upset.

Romero consistently pressed the action without answer while Viloria, failing to counter attack, simply watched his title taken away

Viloria took his time throwing punches--and those punches rarely came. His inactivity cost him nearly every round while eliciting a few “boring” chants from the crowd.

“I’m in shock right now," said the disappointed Viloria.

"I don’t know what to do right now. I fought a stupid fight tonight.

"I waited too long . . . I just waited.”

Most ring side observers agreed that the judges had no choice but to score several rounds to the much more active, but much less accurate, Romero.

Against his corner’s advice, Viloria failed to launch an effective game plan until the middle rounds, where he did the most damage. It did not, however, prove enough.

“I just didn’t do enough,” said Viloria. “I needed to be a lot more aggressive.”

Viloria won only one round on all three judges scorecards (the seventh), losing rounds 8-11 on all three judges' scorecards, as well.

Romero was the least surprised with the victory:

"We knew why they brought us here," the champion said. "I knew they didn’t think we would win. But, after the fourth round, I knew that I would win this fight.

“He hit me, but not as hard as we had thought. Tonight is my night. I am the winner I am the new champion.”

Viloria (now 19-1-0, 12 KOs) said he would like to get an immediate rematch.

“Everyone has bad nights. Tonight was mine.”

Official scores read 117-112, 118-110 and 117-111.
-- Victor Perea

Zertuche TKO’s Bojorquez!

In the co-main event, Jose Luis Zertuche (19-2-2, 14 KOs) scored an impressive eighth round TKO victory over his opponent Carlos Bojorquez (26-9-6, 22 KOs).

At the beginning of the fight, it looked as though Bojorquez' experience on the big stage would be the decisive factor in this bout. Bojorquez has been in against the stiffer competition, having boxed former world champions Ike Quartey and Kassim Ouma.

Bojorquez controlled the tempo of the match at the outset with his jab. Although he was impressive in the early rounds, it was just a matter of time before the tide would turn in favor of the younger, fresher Zertuche.

And then it happened.

In round three, a big left hook by Zertuche hurt Bojorquez, who was forced to clinch to buy time to regain his senses.

But it happened again . . and again and again. Bojorquez was seriously stunned on three more occasions before the bell sounded to end the round.

Zertuche came out in the fourth dropping bombs on his adversary, but Bojorquez did a much better job of keeping his younger opponent off him. Nevertheless, as the middle rounds wore on Bojorquez’s jab lost its effectiveness and Zertuche began to tee-off on the veteran.

Zertuche loaded up on his hooks in Tyson-esque fashion, pounding away at the midsection and head with full leverage. The question on everyone’s mind: How much punishment could Bojorquez absorb from the younger brawler?

After taking the seventh round off, Zertuche caught his second wind and emerged from his stool determined to close the show in the eighth. He landed a picture perfect right hook to the temple region which stole Bojorquez senses, then followed up with a left hook to the ribs that crumbled Bojorquez to the canvas where he laid for minutes after Referee Robert Byrd waived off the bout.

Zertuche earned a crowd-pleasing TKO victory at the 1:25 mark of round eight. -- Albert Howell

Kronk’s Andy Lee Impresses!

In a six-round super welterweight bout, Kronk Gym’s Andy Lee (now 4-0, 2 KOs) put on a clinic against a game and very well conditioned Carl Cockerham 12-12-3. Lee took charge early on with a commanding jab, using it to keep the smaller Cockerham in a position to be hit.

Happy to be the counter puncher, Lee allowed Cockerham to put himself in a position to be caught. And were it not for his experience and excellent conditioning, Cockerham would have found himself dropped by several of Lee’s brutal left uppercuts in the first few rounds.

Lee, originally from Limerick, Ireland, went hard and heavy to the body in the early rounds, throwing several powerful left uppercuts that reminded Cockerham who the showcase fighter was tonight. Cockerham was offensive in spurts, with swooping haymaking hooks, which Lee avoided, letting the charging Cockerham roll off his shoulders.

Lee used decent footwork and a clean double jab-straight-left to continue to dominate the bout, cutting Cockerham over the left eye with a straight left in round four. Referee Joe Cortez stopped the action one minute into the fourth stanza to have the cut over Cockerham’s left eye examined.

Although Lee failed to finish his opponent he also failed to break a sweat as he showed that his ability in the ring is far greater than his now four-fight career would indicate.

“He was a tough guy,” admitted a gleeful Lee.“I hit him with some hard shots but he wasn’t dropping.”

FightNews scored it the same as all three judges, 60-54 for the winner by unanimous decision, Andy Lee.
-- Victor Perea

DeLeon Decisions Mendez!

In a six-round featherweight bout, Guadalupe DeLeon (7-2, 4 KOs ) won a majority decision over foe Sergio Mendez (5-2, 1 KO).This fight saw plenty of action, but no knockdowns.

In round one, DeLeon stunned his adversary with a big left hook. Mendez was forced to clinch to buy time to recover from the big blow. In a see-saw battle, Mendez emerged from his stool determined to win the second round and proved the busier fighter by pressing the action, winning the round.

Most of the following rounds were too close to call. Both men took turns being the aggressor; with neither combatant very defensive-minded. Nevertheless, what each warrior lacked in technical skill was more than made up in determination.

In the fourth round, Mendez forced DeLeon to the ropes where he unleashed hook after hook to the body. In the fifth round, DeLeon caught Mendez coming in with a short left hook to the jaw. Then, DeLeon followed up by tagging Mendez with a tight right uppercut as his adversary tried to come in.

Mendez came out in the sixth with a sense of urgency. Although he put together a series of effective combinations, it was too little too late.

After six, Mendez dropped a majority decision to DeLeon in a hard fought battle, with he the scorecards reading 58-56, 58-56 and 57-57.
-- Albert Howell

Arroyo Wins Split Decision!

Vincent Arroyo (6-0, 3 KOs) won a split decision victory over Sheldon Rudolph (4-7, 2 KOs).

In the first round, it was an Arroyo left hook that damaged Rudolph, forcing him to cover up while Arroyo unleashed unanswered power shot after power shot. Rudolph was fortunate to hold on and finish the round.

Taking advantage of the rest period between rounds, Rudolph came out in the second like a man possessed. He did not look like the same fighter who started the match. Rudolph won the second by staying busy and landing a couple of big uppercuts to the mid-section of Arroyo.

Rudolph was cut above the left eye during the third round. As the blood flowed from the wound, Rudolph sensed the urgency and pressed the action throughout a close third.

Although Rudolph may have demonstrated the will to win, it was Arroyo's superior boxing skills that would be the determining factor in this bout. Arroyo landed three huge hooks in round four, followed by a big combination. Not to be outdone, a solid right by Rudolph sent his adversary reeling to the ropes.

The second half of the fight was a real barn-burner. Although both men landed hard shots, it was Arroyo that landed the bigger, more effective power shots. A sharp left jab by Arroyo snapped back Rudolph’s head to punctuate a fifth round, and he showcased his superior footwork in the sixth.

The gutsy Rudolph put up a tough fight, but, in the end, it was Arroyo and his superior skill-set that earned the victory, albeit by split decision. Two scorecards read 59-55 and 58-56 for Arroyo, while the third card read 57-56 for Rudolph.
-- Albert Howell

Gabi Gets First-Round TKO!

The only knockout of the undercard came on the last bout of the scheduled six bout card.

Filipino Diosdado Gabi (27-3-1, 19 KOs) came away with the most impressive win of the night, earning a crowd-pleasing TKO in only 1:36 of the first round. The career-long flyweight moved up to bantamweight for this bout, just five months after a disappointing TKO loss to IBF Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan.

Gabi’s opponent Mauricio Pastrana now, 32-7-2 (21) failed to make the contracted 117-lb weight limit at Wednesday’s official weigh in, but the managers came to a contractual agreement and the fight was scheduled to continue at a catch weight.

This caused some concern for Gabi’s trainer Freddie Roach--but any any possible conflict that might have risen from the excess weight was quickly dismissed as a motivated Gabi exploded out of the gate in round one.

The Davao City native, with advice from his corner, immediately went to work on Pastrana’s body.

"I saw it in his face the first body shot I gave him he winced,” said a gleeful Gabi. “After that, I knew he was done,” added the victorious southpaw."

Pastrana was hurt very early on by hard hooks to the body, and before the former world champion could realize, he was caught with two clean left hooks to the head, sending him to the ground.

Pastrana beat the count but was clearly damaged goods. Again, Gabi went after Pastrana with three-punch combos to the body. Within seconds, Pastrana was against the ropes, hurt and, once again, on his way to the canvas.

Referee Richard Steele allowed Pastrana to continue, only to watch him meet a flurry of body shots that prompted the bout to be stopped at only 1:36 into round one.

“I am so happy to have won. I can go home and see my family. I miss them.”
-- Victor Perea

Bonus Photos