Boxing also wins big with Brian Viloria

Brian Viloria landed his finest shots, he scored what easily counted as his sweetest victory, but the greatest move during the world flyweight boxing title bout in Pasig on Sunday belonged to the third man in the ring.
Samuel Viruet’s timely halt to the contest that had started to turn savage should be noble enough for recommendation to the Hall of Fame.
Viloria installed himself again as strong candidate for boxing greatness.
Viruet, on the other hand, lent the sport big win-win points in integrity.
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Any official of inferior competence and composure would’ve totally missed the beat.
Giovani Segura, the favored challenger, opened up like a cold diesel engine, a laborer made to promptly dig the ditch upon getting out of bed.
He soon came to life, throwing sticky body punches while trying to push the speedier Viloria against the ropes.
Segura was, however, a surprisingly easy target, sucking in the best of Viloria’s punches, mainly vicious hooking lefts.
* * *
The two opening rounds were quite furious, with both fighters landing fearsome knockout shots.
It could have gone either way. However, while Segura was starting to bare his full caliber as a top 10 pound-for-pound warrior, Viloria, out of nowhere, struck with a knife-like right to the mid-section.
Segura did try to keep a straight face, but he would never be the same again.
The dagger straight to the belly visibly stalled Segura, who started to fade and slow down further.
At round’s end, he returned to his corner visibly in a daze. He was frantically attended to by his corner, as though he had suffered an accident.
* * *
Segura, of course, did not readily lose built-in menace.
He continued to pursue with sticky body blows, but by the fourth round, the gash over his right brow had formed into an ugly lump.
With his impaired vision, Segura also turned into a much easier target.
The bout had deteriorated into a mismatch by the sixth round.
When referee Viruet conferred with Segura’s handlers at the end of the seventh, Segura’s head injury had swollen to the size of an orange.
The Mexican warrior also wore the face of a drunken Roman centurion, disfigured like a Picasso portrait.
* * *
There was no doubt the referee suggested surrender to Segura’s corner during the break.
The fight was going nowhere.
Baring a great Aztec heart, Segura refused and instead resumed futile plodding.
After he threw and missed with a big right, Viloria tagged him with a left counter, the champ’s Sunday best.
Segura tottered, sailing like a listing ship toward the neutral corner.
The referee did not take a second look. He jumped in to promptly halt the demolition.
Segura tried to protest the stoppage but predictably landed in the hospital.
There were two distinct possibilities had Viruet not interfered.
Segura could’ve either suffered a career-ending stoppage or ended up in a home for the convalescent.
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(LEGISLATION: “Read your last column, I submit legislature should be legislation,” offers Red Dumuk, treasurer of the national chess federation who has ably assisted other national sports associations. Sorry, my fault. I stand corrected, sir. Continues Dumuk: “Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore all have their ministry of sports, while ours lasted less than seven years, from 1976 to 82.”… Raisa Garcia, 17, representing Mangaldan, has been chosen No. 1 Most Outstanding SK chairperson in the whole province of Pangasinan. Congratulations.)