Friday, November 23, 2001
Viloria ready for
fourth pro bout
The Hawaii boxer fights
in New York tonight to
benefit the WTC victimsNEW YORK (AP) -- In a previous visit to New York, Brian Viloria was a small man with a big reputation and hopes of an Olympic gold medal.
He's back in town without that gold medal, looking to build a reputation as a pro, with hopes of becoming a world champion.
Friday night, Viloria and Olympic teammates Jermain Taylor and Clarence Vinson will box on an ESPN2 show in the Roseland Ballroom in midtown Manhattan.
Viloria was in New York in September 2000 to make appearances with other members of the Sydney Olympic team. He was a world champion and the favorite to win the Olympic light flyweight (106 pounds) title.
The Hawaiian was outpointed 6-4 in the second round by Brahim Aslouh of France, the eventual gold medalist.
"It obviously was controversial," Viloria said Thursday.
It sure was. He landed 12 clean body punches during the bout and not one was recorded as a scoring blow under the computerized system. The five judges were reprimanded but the decision stood.
"It was a big disappointment," Viloria said. "But you don't sulk about it."
Viloria, who will turn 21 Saturday, became pro as a flyweight (112 pounds) in May and goes into his six-round bout against Mike Thomas of Baltimore (4-2-1, 2 knockouts) with a 3-0 record, 2 KOs.
"It's real good," Viloria said of life as a pro so far. "I have a pro boxing style. I've had to get rid of some amateur habits."
As an amateur, Viloria boxed three three-minute rounds or four two-minute rounds. Pro rounds are three minutes.
"I can't throw as many punches in a round as I did as an amateur," he said. "I have to learn to pace myself, to pick my shots."
Taylor (6-0, 4 knockouts), of Little Rock, Ark., a bronze medalist at Sydney, will fight Undra White (23-10, 18 knockouts) of St. Louis in a six-round middleweight bout.
Vinson (4-0, 2 KOs) of Washington, also a bronze medalist, will fight Jhovanny Collado (2-2, 1 KO) of New York in a six-round bantamweight fight.
Two 10-round bouts will match super middleweights James Butler of New York against Richard Grant of New York and lightweights Brian Adams of New York against Richard Kiley of New Hyde Park.