The 2000 United States Olympic team produced three world champions: Jermain Taylor, Jeff Lacy and Brian Viloria. Of the title-holders from this class, Viloria toiled in comparative obscurity for much of his career, plagued by the inherent public prejudice against boxing’s smallest weight classes.
Comparatively, the granite-chiseled Lacy (25-4, 17 KO) was heavily hyped and favored to unify titles against Joe Calzaghe; aggressive and powerful, Lacy appeared poised to reign atop the super middleweight division. Calzaghe, however, decimated him, and Lacy was never the same fighter after dropping a punishing unanimous decision.
Taylor (31-4-1, 19 KO) reached a higher stratosphere than Lacy, winning the undisputed middleweight title with back-to-back victories over Bernard Hopkins, ending the latter’s record-breaking championship reign. But even these high-profile triumphs could not lead to sustained success as a lineal champion.
A draw with Winky Wright and underwhelming victories over smaller foes like Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks followed, and Taylor’s first loss to Kelly Pavlik was devastating. A brief stint in the Super Six World Boxing Classic only made fans and pundits worry about Taylor’s long-term health.
Of these three competent and quality champions, Viloria (32-4, 19 KO) is the only one who remains relevant, and he stands alone as the standard bearer for 2000 Olympic class. And yet, Viloria has never gotten his proper due or the exposure he deserves.
Viloria first won the WBC light flyweight title in 2005, making one defense before losing to Omar Nino Romero. Similarly, Viloria would go on to stop Ulises Solis in an excellent performance in 2009 to win the IBF light flyweight strap, only to get shockingly stopped by Carlos Tamara in his second defense.
It was clear circa 2009 that Viloria, much like Lacy, was at least world-level, but perhaps not destined to be a genuinely elite, long-reigning champion.
After the loss to Tamara, however, something seemed to click for Viloria.
He would go on to win six consecutive fights, including four title bouts and a unification contest. In fact, upset loss to Tamara notwithstanding, Viloria had been on a 13-1 run since early 2008 and had established himself as one of the most competent and exciting fighters in boxing, at least to those who paid attention to the sport’s full breadth.
But it was during that six-fight run—when Viloria scored a clinical stoppage of Giovani Segura and gained revenge over old nemesis Romero with a ninth-round TKO—that a broader cross-section of fans, pundits and networks should have been taking note. Viloria had just gotten over the second title defense hump, scoring two knockouts since winning a decision over Julio Cesar Miranda to claim the WBO flyweight title.
These victories set up what should have been a high-profile (network and promotion-wise) unification clash against Hernan “Tyson” Marquez, another hellacious puncher. In a Fight of the Year candidate, Viloria scored a 10th-round TKO after knocking Marquez down in the first, fifth and 10th stanzas. It was a career-best performance more than worthy of HBO or Showtime.
More importantly, Viloria’s win unified titles (WBA and WBO) and seemed to finally place him in position to secure a series of major fights that would generate more public interest.
But just as Viloria appeared poised for a memorable and lucrative final act to his career, the end—in terms of fights at the highest level—might have just played out with his loss to Juan Francisco Estrada in Macau last Saturday.
Practically having to beg for more exposure, Viloria got just that by defending his titles in chief support of three-time Chinese Olympic medalist Zou Shiming’s professional debut.
And yet, there was a muted sense of perversity in the entire spectacle. Viloria was essential to the card in order to justify the pomp of a debuting, unproven pro who might very well be an afterthought six months from now. That Viloria essentially took a back seat to a four-round bout was a stark microcosm of how his career has been treated.
However, just as Viloria has done throughout his career, he put on a brave, exciting and, at times, excellent performance against Estrada (23-2, 18 KO). The fight was close and competitive over the first seven rounds, and Viloria landed some thudding body shots and hellacious overhand rights, often backing up the young challenger.
Yet the fight remained tight and certainly seemed poised to be heated down the stretch. But when the eighth round commenced, the bout’s geography changed. As opposed to remaining in a compact stance at optimal punching range, Viloria and Estrada started to lean on each other, which seemed to tire Viloria.
Struggling to land cleanly, Viloria allowed Estrada to bully him and control distance. It seemed the champion, in an instant, had no legs.
Viloria was drained and battered around the ring by the 12th stanza, but he never stopped fighting in what amounted to another exciting bout. But given the way Viloria seemed gassed in the eighth round, one has to wonder if he aged overnight, so to speak.
Such a question is difficult to answer, but the shift in Viloria’s body language and output was drastic.
It wasn’t as if Estrada simply had his moments over the last five rounds; rather, Estrada dominated Viloria in what had been a highly competitive clash.
Because of his pedigree and accomplishments, Viloria will surely get another important fight. Questions about his potential decline will be quickly answered, but what is certain is that Viloria will still make compelling bouts.
A potential fight against Roman Gonzalez loomed for Viloria, and it’s ultimately a shame that this bout probably won’t ever happen. On the biggest stage of his career, Viloria came up just short, watching as the main event slot went to a four-round professional novice.
If it is unclear whether Viloria can claw his way back to a title for a fourth time, one certainty is that he deserves profound respect. And his next bout, win or loss, is worthy of the boxing community’s undivided attention.
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