Jason-Pagara-by-ryan-songalia

Jason Pagara / Photo by Ryan Songalia –

DAVAO, Philippines – Filipino junior welterweight Jason Pagara capped the “Pinoy Pride 29″ card at the University of Southeastern Philippines Gym with a second-round blowout win over Cesar Chavez.

Pagara (35-2, 22 knockouts) dropped Chavez (24-8, 12 KOs) twice in the first round and once more in the second before referee Bruce McTavish stopped it at the 1:56 mark, sending Chavez to his eighth loss, all by knockout.

Pagara dropped Chavez early in the fight with a left hook to the body. With a knee on the canvas, Chavez took another hard right hand that gave him a good reason to stay down.

Chavez rose up, living up to his nickname “El Dolar,” which he says was given to him because he goes up and down like the foreign exchange rate. He was dropped again later in the round on a flurry of punches, perhaps feeling overwhelmed. The final knockdown in the next stanza came off of a lunging left hook from Pagara.

With the Sinaloa, Mexico, native down on the canvas and holding his right eye, the referee saw no reason to continue the bout.

“I’m ready for the next level,” said the Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, native Pagara, who has now won eight straight since his upset loss to Rosbel Montoya in 2011.

With virtually no domestic fighters in his weight class, Pagara’s opposition has been questionable at times. He says he wants to test himself against more formidable opposition, namely RING junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia and former 140-pound unified champion Amir Khan.

Pagara’s promoter, Michael Aldegeur of ALA Boxing, says the plan is to relocate Pagara to the United States this year to train in the Los Angeles area, where he can find the necessary sparring to improve.

Aldegeur says Pagara will fight on the company’s first U.S. card in San Diego on May 23 before having a step-up fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., in September.

“Jason has always been someone who has been in question,” said Aldegeur. “People ask if he’s the real deal. When he comes up and fights some of the big names, that’s when we’ll be able to get some real answers.”

Pagara’s trainer, Edito Villamor, doesn’t put much stock into Chavez’s past shortcomings, however. He feels Pagara had a job to do it and accomplished it early.

“We don’t base off of the record. Mexicans are Mexican fighters. He got hit,” said Villamor.

 Servania scores lackluster win

If Pagara’s opponent brought out the best in him, Juan Luis Hernandez brought out the worst in Genesis Servania. For twelve rounds, Servania chased after the Tijuana, Mexico, resident in a fight that drew boos from the crowd on several occasions.

The 23-year-old Servania, who is currently rated the No. 1 contender to WBO junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (who also holds the RING and WBA belts), was unable to keep his three-fight knockout streak alive as Hernandez came to survive.

Servania (26-0, 11 KOs) started the bout strongly, landing effective left hooks to the body. His jab was absent for long stretches of the bout, however, and at times Servania left himself open for Hernandez’s counterpunches.

The fight seemed on the verge of becoming an all-out brawl in Round 10 when a left hook and a right hand turned Hernandez (17-4-1, 9 KOs) along the ropes. As Servania went to capitalize, Hernandez took chances to counter. Both fighters traded blows until the final bell.

“The opponent is not fighting. He kept running, he was on survival mode,” said Villamor of Servania,rated No. 4 by THE RING at 122 pounds, afterward. “Genesis’ performance was good; his opponent was the problem.”

 Villanueva outguns former champ Miranda

Arthur Villanueva rejuvenated his image as a future contender with a one-sided drubbing of faded former WBO flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda in a ten-round junior bantamweight fight. Two judges saw it for Villanueva by the score 98-93 while the third scored it 99-91.

Villanueva (27-0, 14 KOs), who is rated No. 6 by THE RING at 115 pounds, controlled the bout early, digging hooks and straight rights to Miranda’s midsection that slowed the 34-year-old down later on.

Despite being clearly shopworn, Miranda (38-12-2, 29 KOs) remained tough and tricky throughout, switching stances and throwing punches from awkward angles that found their way around Villanueva’s guard.

There were no knockdowns in the bout and Miranda eventually adapted to Villanueva’s power to coast to his inevitable defeat.

The win provides a much-needed boost for Villanueva after flat performances in his last two bouts against Fernando Aguilar and Henry Maldonado.

“I never mind that before,” said Villanueva, when asked if his confidence was affecting by those outings. “I only focused for my fight with Miranda.”

Miranda, who won a flyweight title in 2010 and made three defenses before losing it in a close bout with Brian Viloria, has now lost six of his last nine bouts, with one draw.

Earlier in the night, 19-year-old Mark Magsayo (10-0, 8 KOs) of Tagbilaran City scored a fifth-round technical knockout of Thai Sukkasem Kietyongyuth (13-4, 8 KOs) at the 2:19 mark in a ten-round featherweight bout.

Magsayo set the first knockdown up with a left hook to the body-left uppercut to the chin sequence which blinded Kietyongyuth to the right hand that followed up. The Thai rose up quickly but was met by a two-fisted barrage from Magsayo, who pounded the body to set up bigger punches up top.

As Kietyongyuth retreated to the ropes, Magsayo uncorked an overhand right that sent the Thai head-first out of the ring. The referee immediately stopped the fight without a count.

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/380429-jason-pagara-arthur-villanueva-genesis-servania-win-in-philippines

WBO flyweight champion Brian Viloria says he is “ready to go” when he defends his title for he first time against mandatory challenger Giovanni Segura, the former light flyweight champion at the Yñares Sports Arena on Sunday morning.

The fight card which is a cooperative effort between Zanfer Promotions and Solar Sports is titled “Island Assault 3” and will be telecast over GMA 7 beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Viloria told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard that he’s been in the gym for almost three months and “been working hard every day, trying to get ready for Segura. It’s going to be a tough fight. I know that. Everybody knows that and I think I’m coming in as the underdog which I love. I worked ten times harder than for the (Julio Cesar “Pingo”) Miranda fight and I’m going to be ready.”

Viloria dropped Miranda in the opening round en route to winning the title via a unanimous twelve round decision in Honolulu last July 16.

The three-time world champion said he plans to use his skill, ring savvy and outbox the rugged Segura. Viloria said “it all comes down to execution. Train hard, set up a game-plan, try to work on the game-plan during training and when it comes down to the fight night you have to execute it. We have to fight smart, intelligently, stay off the ropes against Segura and just go out there and do my best.”

Viloria said some people underestimate his “hidden” punching power referring to the 11th round knockout over fancied Ulises Solis and dropping Miranda in the very first round. He said “hopefully on Sunday it (punching power) will show because I have a stopping ability. I also have the quickness, the ring intelligence and so much experience and I try to use everything all at once. ”

He said Segura was a nice person and “we can be friends before and after the fight but when we are in that squared circle all that goes out of the window and you have to get down to business. I’m going to try to knock his head off same way he’s going to try to knock my head off. That’s the sport of boxing.”

Viloria said his trainer Mario Morales “works you tremendously. He kicks butt and non-stop. He’s got me into that shape where I can go the full distance or try to wake up all the instincts that I have inside of me.”

Morales himself said Viloria was “in better condition than he was in Hawaii for the Miranda fight.” He said “if we carry on the strategy that we planned for this fight it will be an easy fight. It’s brain versus strength. If we decide to trade with Segura it will be a very hard fight but if we stick to the plan, box, and be in and out, in and out and use our speed then it will be an easier fight.”

Morales said Viloria was “very strong, very focused. I’ve never seen him this focused before.”

 

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=46937

El hawaiano Brian Viloria ya está en Manila, Filipinas, donde este domingo 11 de diciembre defenderá su corona universal mosca de la Organización Mundial de Boxeo ante el mexicano Giovanni Segura. Viloria (29-3, 16 KOs) busca realizar la primera defensa de su cinturón, el cual obtuvo al derrotar por puntos a otro mexicano, Julio César Miranda.

“Estoy en perfectas condiciones y estoy listo para la pelea”, comentó “El Hawaiian Punch” tras dos meses de duros entrenamientos.

Tras haber causado sensación en el peso minimosca, Segura (28-1-1, 24 KOs) invade las 112 libras y busca quedarse con la faja mundial.

 La pelea se realizará en el Yñares Sports Arena de Pasig City, Manila.

 

http://www.notifight.com/artman2/publish/Reporte_7/Viloria_listo_para_defender_ante_Segura_printer.php

BRIAN Viloria is now in town, ready and in shape to defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight crown against dangerous Giovanni Segura of Mexico Sunday next week.

Viloria, 31, brought with him two months of hard training, including 120 rounds of sparring, in preparing himself for the first defense of the title he won with a unanimous decision over Julio Cesar Miranda last July in Hawaii.

“I’m in perfect shape right now. So great to be back and get ready for this fight,” said Viloria, dubbed the `Hawaiian Punch’, just hours after arriving in the country Saturday afternoon following a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles, where he held training camp for the 12-round fight.

His being in perfect shape is one of the reasons why he doesn’t see Segura living up to his promise that he’ll knock out the reigning champion wrest his title belt.

The 29-year-old Segura, owner of a fearsome 28-1 record, including 24 KOs, arrived here as early as Thursday, and readily made known his intention to destroy  Viloria (29-3, 16 KOs) before an expected full-house crowd at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

“Brian, I am going to knock you out. I am saying that with confidence,” said the Mexican, the only fighter to beat the great Puerto Rican champion Ivan Calderon not just once, but twice.

Viloria, born in Waipahu, Hawaii, did acknowledge Segura is a deadly opponent, who knows nothing but to move forward.

“He (Segura) wants to exchange a lot, he throws a lot of punches, and wants to bang it up,” said Viloria, the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) light-flyweight champion.

But the 2000 Sydney Olympian is ready whatever Segura brings with him to the ring.

“I push myself hard to train for this fight. I have to be in shape 10 times for this fight than I was when I fought Miranda,” he said.

Segura is a two-time world champion who once held the IBF and WBO light-flyweight crowns.

 

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/sports/18836-viloria-ready-to-defend-wbo-title

MANILA, Philippines — Brian Viloria had no problem fighting for a world title. But the 30-year-old boxer owns a spotty record when it comes to defending his belt.

Viloria (29-3-0, 16 KOs), though, hopes to change all that when he defends his World Boxing Organization flyweight title against the dangerous Mexican Giovani Segura (28-1-1, 24 KOs) next week.

Although some oddsmakers have tagged Viloria as the underdog, the Filipino-American, nicknamed “The Hawaiian Punch,” remains confident in the “Island Assault 3: Champion vs Champion” bout on Dec. 11 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

Boxing experts think that a victory over Segura will make Viloria a legitimate threat in the flyweight division. Moreover, it’s a chance for Viloria to move up to a higher slot in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Viloria knocked out Eric Ortiz of Mexico on his first shot at the WBC light flyweight title in 2005.

In 2009, Viloria stopped another Mexican, Ulises Solis, on his first crack at the IBF light flyweight title.

Just last July, he also clinched the WBO flyweight title over Mexico’s Julio Cesar Miranda.

Viloria, however, absorbed losses in his title-defense bouts.

After defending his WBC light flyweight title against Mexico’s Jose Antonio Aguirre in 2005, he lost the following year to Omar Niño Romero on his second defense.

Viloria kept the IBF light flyweight belt when he defended it against Mexican Jesus Iribe in 2009 but he lost it again in his second title defense the following year against Carlos Tamara of Colombia.

 

http://sports.inquirer.net/27487/viloria-fights-for-world-title-and-more