Undefeated Viloria
to fight May 17
at Blaisdell Arena

The boxer returns home
and is itching to get back
into the ring

---

Star-Bulletin staff

Brian Viloria will fight his seventh professional bout where he fought his first -- at home in Honolulu.

Although an opponent was not settled on as late as last night, two names were brought before the boxing commission as possible opponents. What has been confirmed is that Viloria will fight May 17 at the Blaisdell Arena.

"We're very excited to have Brian come back and fight in Hawaii," local promoter Tom Moffatt said yesterday. "This fight will be at night, which is good for the local crowd, and it's at Blaisdell. They already have everything in place to hold a fight, plus people are used to going there.

"The first fight with Brian was on TV, so it had to be in the afternoon and it hurt the local gate. This should be a good venue for us."

Viloria started his professional career with a four-round decision over Ben Jun Escobia in May of last year. He has improved since then, knocking out four of his last five opponents.

Viloria has longed to return to Honolulu since his last fight ended, a fourth-round TKO of Leonardo Chucky Gutierrez in New York a month ago. He is on a two-month pace between fights since his fourth bout, which he went into with only 16 days of rest.

He still managed to score a four-round decision over Mike Thomas in New York. Thomas is the only man to stay upright against Viloria since Escobia took him the distance in his debut.

"I always look forward to fighting in Hawaii," Viloria said. "The fans here are very loyal and knowledgeable. It should be a great night."

In some ways, Viloria hopes he doesn't have a repeat performance of his first professional fight. After beating Escobia, he later discovered that a sore hand was actually broken. He took four months off before returning to the ring to face Kenny Berrios. He scored a fourth-round TKO in the 112-pound bout last September.

"We're hoping that Brian will be as popular as Jesus Salud once was," Moffatt said. "We're going to have two or three fights on the undercard. We'll have to see how that develops. Hopefully, we'll have an opponent for Brian (by today)."

Viloria was scheduled to take part in a press conference this morning via a teleconference call from Los Angeles. His handlers at DiBella Entertainment are trying to keep Viloria as busy as possible. The former Olympian is hoping he will be the next Hawaiian Punch.

"To follow in Jesus' footsteps is a dream of mine," Viloria said. "I used to watch him while I was growing up. I hope I can have the same kind of impact on local fighters that Jesus had for me."