 A Relieved Viloria Fights for a Title Saturday
By Steve Kim (September 9, 2005)
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Brian Viloria will be going back to the same arena, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, to fight for his first world title against WBC junior flyweight titlist Eric Ortiz on Saturday night. Back on May 28th, Viloria would engage in his last bout against Ruben Contreras on the undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez's 'Adios' to Los Angeles. Long before the Mexican partisans had come into the arena to send off their idol, just a smattering of fans had filed into the arena to see the 'Hawaiian Punch' perform.
It was his first fight under the Top Rank banner and the proverbial tune-up bout before fighting for his first major title.
But what was a rather non-descript fight was turned into the story du jour in the media as Contreras would mysteriously turn his back on Viloria in the sixth
round and call it quits. Prior to that, the action was rather tepid and there was no indication that Contreras was in any great peril.
There seemed to be some confusion ringside on just how to rule on the Mexican's action. It was decided that calling the bout a TKO was the only recourse. A few minutes later, a distressed Contreras would be taken away in a stretcher, with paramedics being called near ringside to give the fallen man medical attention.
It was a chilling scene.
As Viloria and his handlers went back to their dressing quarters, Contreras, in an eerily silent and empty, cavernous arena, would begin fighting for his life.
It was a stunning turn of events. If you cover the sport, you'll see hundreds of bouts with more action and violence.
"It was nothing out of the ordinary to indicate that it was going to lead to that kind of situation," recalled Viloria of that fateful bout. "I just went in there to box, get some rounds in and there wasn't any sign or any punches thrown that could've brought him to that situation."
Viloria's own performance during that bout was such that his own trainer Freddie Roach admitted that, "I was a little bit pissed at Brian for letting the guy last because Brian was just playing with him a little bit. He was getting some rounds in but I told him before that round, 'OK, Brian, you've gotten some rounds, lets get him out of there.'
"I didn't think he belonged in the ring with Brian, and if Brian used his power like he can, I thought he would knock the guy out," added Roach. "but the thing is, it wasn't that way; it wasn't a one-sided fight or anything, or one particular shot that hurt the guy."
But it was the fact that many others felt that Contreras didn't belong in the ring with the undefeated Viloria, given his 9-16-3 record coming into the bout. To many, this was a mismatch. One that shouldn't have taken place.
But if you look at Contreras' ledger, you see that the fight before he had gone the distance with Will Grigsby four months before. Grigsby would then go on to win a world title in his next fight. Before that he would draw with the undefeated David Martinez (12-0) prior to losing another dime to 19-2 Hugo Ramirez. In boxing parlance, he was an 'opponent' but certainly not cannon fodder.
It's an uncomfortable reality that those outside the business of boxing may not understand, but guys like Contreras are part of the fabric of the game that are badly needed in developing young prospects and keeping fighters like Viloria busy in the interim. And in the lower weight classes, because of the shallow pool of talent that is available, records can be deceiving.
But this was certainly not the Christians being fed to the lions.
"I tell all these people who form conclusions without having watched the fight, that if they simply get a tape of the fight they'll see that this was a fight that was as benign as it gets," says Gary Gittelsohn, who manages Viloria. "It certainly wasn't even close to being the most brutal fight on the card. In fact it was probably the least brutal on the card."
Unfortunately though, a human life was hanging in the balance as Contreras would fall into a coma as he was transported to a local hospital.
"I didn't really know till I got out of the showers," Viloria, said of his opponent's worsening condition. "It wasn't until the doctor and the people around me were letting me know what was going on outside. It didn't really hit me until the next fight was on hold and they were saying Ruben's heading towards the hospital, he needed surgery."
The next bout was delayed because California State Athletic Commission rules state that a paramedic must be ringside for a bout to take place.
As news spread that Contreras was in danger, news outlets like the Los Angeles Times - a paper that barely mentions championship bouts - was suddenly making the plight of Contreras headline news - on their front page, no less.
"It seemed that every media outlet was trying to get a hold of Brian for comments and it was very disarming," said Gittelsohn.
Suddenly, the relatively obscure Viloria was in the glare of the media spotlight.
"It was unfortunate having that type of situation for me to get notices with something negative like that," said Viloria, a boxer noted for his introspective manner. "But I was just really, really thinking about Ruben and his family and just wanting them to get through that situation."
As the scrutiny and questions mounted, a decision was made to shield Viloria.
"I thought it was in Brian's best interest," said Gittelsohn. "This was a very critical time for Brian, in addition to dealing with this horrible circumstance to Ruben Contreras, Brian was preparing for the most important fight of his life - and that was his first world title fight.
"So I spoke with Freddie and we agreed that it was in Brian's best interest to put a protective blanket around him and get him back on the horse as quickly as possible."
The following Monday, Viloria would be back at the gym. But admittedly with a great weight on his shoulders.
"I needed to know where I was, where I stood at that point, if it was still bothering me. If I could get back into the same groove as I was and still have the world championship on my mind," he said, explaining his decision. "So I needed to know whether my mind was still there or if I was wondering off a little."
Meanwhile, Gittelsohn did his part to ease his fighter's anguish.
"I promised Brian and his father that if Brian did his job in the gym, I would do my job and get daily updates or frequent updates on Ruben Contreras' condition and keep him posted. Brian and his father went to church. Brian's very religious, as is his father, and Brian's brother actually spent a year in the seminary to become a priest.
"And so they did what they could do and I said I'd keep them posted on Contreras' condition and it was very evident to me from his family that they didn't want visitors. But Brian was very anxious to get frequent updates."
Both Gittelsohn and promoter, Bob Arum, made donations to cover the medical expenses of Contreras.
Meanwhile Viloria would begin preparing for his July 30th appointment with Ortiz, which was the original date of their match-up before Lucia Rijker's pullout against Christy Martin on their postponed 'Million Dollar Lady' grudge match.
"I was worried about him a little bit because he's a sensitive guy and he's a real nice person," Roach says of his fighter. "Something like that could really hurt him so he came right back to the gym the next day. I think he was more worried because people kept bringing it up to him and they wouldn't let it go at first."
But as the days and weeks went by, Contreras' condition would improve, lifting the spirits of Viloria.
"I saw that he was getting a lot better and it wasn't getting any worse. That kept me going, kept me focused a little bit more than usual. Day by day, it was just
pressure coming off my shoulders," said a relieved Viloria.
Finally, Contreras would recover enough to leave the hospital.
"Oh, everything just came off," Viloria, says of the uplifted burden he felt over Contreras' condition. "I had no worries whatsoever. It was a lot of worries and
a lot of pressure that came off my shoulders."
And for Viloria, having his bout with Ortiz backed up was no problem, having gained a new perspective on things.
"It put the whole sport in perspective," he says. "It brought a lot of questions on how to protect fighters, having medicals or CAT-scans and all that. It just made
me aware of how dangerous the sport is."
His father, Ben, says that his son has shown no ill-effects from his last bout.
"He's very confident. The best thing that happened to Brian was that Ruben's good now. So he was able to concentrate on his training, 100-percent."
And according to the elder Viloria, this is the biggest bout of his son's life, "Because during the Olympics he was not able to win the gold and I think that's one of his motivations right now."
In Ortiz they are facing what Roach describes as: "A tough guy, a little bit slow but he's a world champion and one of the best fighters in the world in that weight division. We win that fight we can look for bigger things down the line with unification-type stuff."
Viloria had fought the bulk of his career as a flyweight, but moves down to 108 to face Ortiz. The extra work has made him a more focused fighter.
"It's the best camp I've had thus far in my career," he says. "Ever since my last fight I've been in the gym practically every day. I really didn't take any days off."
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