By Ronnie Nathanielsz
WBC president Jose Sulaiman says he will support the bid of No.1 ranked light flyweight mandatory contender Juanito Rubillar for a title shot at reigning champion. Fil-American Brian Viloria.
Sulaiman made his position known after Rubillar’s manager, Gabriel "Bebot" Elorde Jr made a tempting offer to the Viloria camp through the WBC president. Elorde offered Viloria a purse of $150,000 to fight the mandatory challenger, four roundtrip tickets and hotel accommodation and meals during their Manila stay.
Elorde informed Sulaiman that since Viloria hurt his hand in his first title defense against former champion Jose Antonio Aguirre and needed three weeks rest, he was setting the fight date for May 6 at the Elorde Sports Center in Sucat, Paranaque. Elorde requested Sulaiman’s approval for his offer.
In reply Sulaiman said "it will always be my pleasure to do everything that I can to support you. I owe that to your ancestors" in reference to Elorde’s grandfather, the grand old man of Philippine boxing, the late Lope "Papa" Sarreal and former world junior lightweight champion, the late Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, father of "Bebot" Elorde.
Sulaiman said "Papa" Sarreal was "my mentor and one of my all-time greatest friends in boxing and "Flash" Elorde was "one of my greatest boxing heroes."
The 29 year old southpaw Rubillar has a record of 37-9-7 with 17 knockouts and twice lost unanimous twelve round decisions in title fights against the Mexican warrior Jorge Arce. The first defeat was on October 20, 2001 while the second was on September 4, 2004. Viloria is also reportedly aiming to move up to the flyweight division for a crack at Arce, the reigning 112 pound champion.
The Elorde offer is expected to be too tempting to resist since Viloria fought for the title against Eric Ortiz last September 11 and received a mere $20,000 while his purse in the first title defense against Aguirre was nowhere near the $150,000 offer of Elorde.
