Viloria lands
fight in Las Vegas
The boxer from Waipahu
is scheduled for a Sept. 3 bout
After showing his skills around the country, Waipahu flyweight Brian Viloria has finally landed in the center of the boxing world.
Viloria (15-0, 9 KOs) will be the main event of a show at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Sept. 3. Although it will be his first appearance in Vegas, Viloria will certainly not be short on supporters.
"Every world champion has fought there," Viloria said. "It is something every professional fighter wants to do. But most of all there is a whole concentration of Hawaii people there so it will feel like fighting back home, which is the best thing."
Viloria, who is ranked No. 3 by the World Boxing Council, is tentatively scheduled to fight Agustin Luna of Mexico, whose last bout was for the WBC light heavyweight title against Jorge Arce last year in Las Vegas. Luna (18-13, 12 KOs) was dropped twice in that fight and lost by TKO in the third round but had not been stopped since January 29, 2000.
Luna, 35, has only had seven of his 31 fights go the distance while Viloria, 23, has gone to the judges in six of his 15 fights.
Viloria's North American Boxing Federation title may not be on the line for the fight so Viloria won't have to make weight. He weighs 115 pounds now and has had trouble making the 112-pound limit in his past few fights. He says it is a result of training and not a problem. His manager, Gary Gittelsohn, says Viloria has at least two more years as a flyweight before moving up in class.
Winning the world flyweight title is still in Viloria's plans, and fans in Hawaii will get a chance to judge for themselves whether Viloria is ready for a shot at the best in his class. International Boxing Federation flyweight champion Irene Pacheco will take Viloria's place on ESPN against Vic Darchinyan the same day as Viloria's bout.
Gittelsohn says Viloria is on schedule for a world title fight by early next year with a stiff test in Honolulu before that if he can find any takers who don't currently hold a belt.
"It is very hard to find opponents for Brian," Gittelsohn said. "I always knew it wouldn't be easy but I couldn't imagine how hard it would be. No credible fighters want to fight Brian and only credible fighters are going to do Brian any good."
Viloria has fought in eight states so far in his young career and has been featured on ESPN seven times. Although his next fight won't be televised, his manager believes it is an important step in his career.
"A boxer doesn't feel like a boxer until he fights in Las Vegas," Gittelsohn said. "This is just one of the many little things I want Brian to do before he does the really big things."
www.wbcboxing.com/
