No more punching bags
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
Brian Viloria spent less than two minutes in the ring Tuesday, but it was a revealing appearance nonetheless.
In the time it took to announce the brief presence of Luis Trencio Doria, the name of Viloria's overmatched opponent, two things became evident: The fight wasn't going to last long and, as soon as the damage was done, it would be high time for the Waipahu Olympian to move on to a better class of competition.
With his 13th victory, the unbeaten Viloria needs more challenging worlds to conquer and soon. With his eighth knockout, the days of Doria and that level of competition should be over except for tuneups.
Doria, who came in at 17-8-1, was but the latest in a string of trial horses, the most recent journeyman on his way down that Viloria has passed on his way up.
If Viloria, who is the fifth-ranked World Boxing Council flyweight, is going to fight for a title on the 8- to 12-month schedule that manager Gary Gittelsohn has announced for him, then it behooves him to make the next fight against a ranked opponent.
Fighting a more demanding foe is the only way Viloria is going to sharpen his skills for whatever title shot comes his way. Let's face it, there are few remaining lessons that can be learned fighting has-beens and never-weres and you'd hate to see Viloria go directly from another Doria to, say, the unforgiving fists of Eric "Hands of Steel" Morel (33-0, 18 KOs), the reigning World Boxing Association champion.
"If he wants a to be a champion, he's got to be looking at some pretty tough cookies from now on," said Bobby Lee, a consultant to the Hawai'i State Boxing Commission.
Indeed, no matter where Viloria's camp chooses to chase a flyweight crown — Morel, WBC champ Pongsaklek Wonjongka (47-2, 26 KOs) or International Boxing Federation champion Irene Pacheco (29-0, 22 KOs) — the task will be considerable and the preparation crucial.
For Viloria, the curse of being a 112-pounder has been that not only is he in one of boxing's most competitive divisions, but he's one of the few Americans in the top 30 of anybody's world rankings.
Except for a handful of fighters from Mexico and South America, the power of the division resides in Asia, meaning top-drawer competition can be hard to come by without either going overseas or waiting through the lengthy visa process to import an opponent.
"It is going to be tougher from here on out," Gittelsohn said.
If Viloria is to achieve a championship destiny, the strolls down Easy Street ended with this last fight.
