Viloria serious
about staying on
championship express

The Waipahu native faces Oviedo
tonight, trying to improve his
career record to 7-0

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By Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.com

Brian Viloria says he has never been hurt as a professional, unless you count breaking his hand on Benjamin Escobia's head.

And that is just the way his handlers want it for now.

Sandro Oviedo was hand-picked by Viloria's handlers to be his seventh professional victim tonight at the Blaisdell Center, showing Viloria a fighter who will stand in and trade shots with him without worrying about derailing the championship express they all believe they are on. The fight will be the last on a six-bout card that begins at 7:30 p.m.

"In this part of my career, we hand-pick guys that are not too easy and not too hard," Viloria said. "But he is a really tough guy and been with a lot of champions already. I am taking this fight really seriously."

On paper, Oviedo poses almost no threat to floor the Olympian, who has never been knocked down. He comes in with a lot of experience (22-17-2) but not a lot of knockouts (4). He also comes in with a lot of confidence and comfort in the role of bad guy.

Asked if he thought he could beat Viloria, Oviedo said that he "doesn't see any reason why not."

Asked what concerned him the most about Viloria, Oviedo replied: "Nothing."

Viloria doesn't expect Oviedo to change his stripes for him, thinking that the Argentinean will stay in front of him and try to slug it out. What worries the Waipahu graduate most is that when Oviedo gets in trouble, he will start to throw shots with reckless abandon, which makes him both unpredictable and dangerous. Still, Oviedo's experience is his biggest threat to Viloria.

The fight will be Viloria's first eight-rounder, while that distance has become all in a day's work for Oviedo. He has gone as far as 12 rounds and has been fighting in eight-rounders since 1990.

If Oviedo doesn't see the later rounds against Hawaii's boy wonder, the 10-round, co-main event between junior welterweights Lovemore Ndou (30-4-1, 18 KOs) and Jun Gorres (26-2-1, 22 KOs) has a chance to steal the show.

Gorres has only gone the distance four times in his career, while Ndou has never been knocked out in 35 professional fights. Both say that they are in line for title fights if they can escape Honolulu with a win, upping the ante considerably.

Gorres has had the advantage of preparing for Ndou by sparring with one of the Australian's stable mates, but Ndou says that is to his advantage, not the knockout artist's.

"Good fighters bring out the best in me," Ndou said. "I'm not going to trash-talk anyone, just put on a good show."

Viloria's Olympic teammate, Jose Navarro (10-0, 4 KOs), will put his perfect record on the line against Julio Cesar Oyuela (7-4-2, 2 KOs), a journeyman from Honduras. Oyuela is best known locally as the guy who failed to make weight when he was scheduled to fight Viloria in Cincinnati earlier this year.

Also on the undercard will be Kaneohe's Eric Alexander (17-7, 13 KOs) ending a three-year retirement against powerful Jerry Balagbagan (9-2, 8 KOs) of the Philippines. Alexander says that he has never seen Balagbagan fight, even on tapeand that he expects to execute his plan and make Balagbagan adjust to him.

"I'll meet him in round one," Alexander said.

Urbano Antillion (4-0, 1 KO) of California will take on Carlos Cisneros (2-3-1, 1 KO) after local product Teddy Limoz Jr. (8-1, 7 KOs) clashes with Roger Flores (12-21-2 -- none by knockout) in the night's opening bout.

Fight night Who: Brian Viloria (6-0) vs. Sandro Oviedo (22-17-2) and five other bouts Where: Blaisdell Arena When: 7:30 tonight Tickets: Reserved seats cost $25-75 at the Blaisdell Box Office and Ticket Plus outlets or by phone at 526-4400. Discount tickets $15 for students, seniors and military.