Two-time world boxing champion Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria is of Filipino descent. He is a gold medal Olympian for the U.S. On 10 July 2010, Viloria will fight Mexico’s Omar “Lobito” Soto in a flyweight fight, dubbed “Unbreakable” at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Are you a fan? Have you even heard of him? If you ask me (c’mon, ask me please), I’d reply that I’ve heard a little of him and, unfortunately, I’m not (yet) a fan. Viloria is of Filipino descent and so I tried very, very hard to convince myself to become a fan. Here are the reasons that I found myself arguing against.
He’s not exciting to watch. It’s probably Manny Pacquiao’s fault. He set the bar so high it’s difficult for other Filipino boxers to follow. But I’m not looking for another Pacman. What I want to see is someone who fights smart but explodes with power, who can fight toe to toe up to the end, not afraid to be bloodied. Brian, he’s not sufficiently exciting to watch.
He does the Hawaiian dance if he wins. Ok, it’s his trademark move, in the same way that Manny gets down on his knees to pray when he wins. The Hawaiian dance is cute. But it’s not endearing. if Viloria really wants to dance, I’d appreciate it more if he does a tinikling or pandango sa ilaw. He’d be more Filipino with that. Here’s the Hawaiian move at the end of the news video below.
He’s not Filipino enough. Maybe this belief, erroneous or not, is the root of it all. Some might say: “Who’s this third-world monkey wanting to claim this American dude as his own?” That’s exactly the point. I want to see Viloria facing that kind of language and still be proud of being a Filipino. I haven’t seen (or maybe I just failed to see) Viloria embracing being a Filipino with all its ups and downs. Sure, the world knows Pacquiao is a Filipino, a proud one. I haven’t seen that level of Pinoy pride in Viloria (especially before Pacquiao became famous).
I’m still trying to argue with myself until this time.
