Brian “The Hawaiian Punch" Viloria is confident that his more than two months of training would be enough to withstand the attacks of dangerous Jesus “Azul" Iribe of Mexico on August 29 (August 30 in Manila) at the Blaisdell Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii.“I have trained for this fight like it is going to its full route," said Viloria, a Filipino-American boxer who grew up in Hawaii, in a phone patch interview on Tuesday from Oxnard, California.
“My preparation is for a hard 12-round fight," added Viloria to reporters gathered at the penthouse of the Solar Century building in Makati City.
This will be the first time that Viloria, 28, will be fighting in Hawaii since 2003 and the first time that he defends his International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight title against the Culiacan, Sinaloa-native Iribe.
Viloria, who donned the US colors during the 2000 Olympics, said he has matured since losing his first world title in 2005 adding that preparation for a fight is more important than the fight itself.
“Before I took my fights for granted and because of that I took preparations lightly," said Viloria. “Now I prepare for my fight like it will be my last, I prepare myself physically and mentally."
Viloria's manager Gary Gittelsohn said that Hawaii boxing fans are excited about the fight.
“The venue is an 8,000-seater and we are confident that Viloria can fill it," said Gittelsohn, also in a phone patch interview from Los Angeles.
Viloria, the 1999 US Boxer of the Year, won the IBF crown last April 19 by knocking down Iribe's compatriot Mexican Uliseses Solis with a powerful right to the jaw in the 11th round at the Big Dome.
It was in 2005 that Viloria came into the Filipino consciousness by winning the WBC light flyweight title by knocking down Eric Ortiz. He defended the title once for his 19th straight win against Jose Antonio Aguirre in 2006 until Mexican Omar Nino Romero dethroned him in the same year.
Viloria also failed to regain the title in a rematch on November 18, 2006 at Las Vegas, Nevada. Ironically, Romero was stripped of the title because of doping.
In order to revitalize a sagging career, Viloria decided to fight Edgar Sosa for the vacant WBC crown but failed in his title bid.
Despite the lost, Viloria pushed on and even moved up to the super flyweight division and started training under former champion, Roberto Garcia, at La Colonia Gym in Oxnard, California.
In his debut in the division, the Hawaiian Punch scored a unanimous decision versus Jose Garcia Bernal (26-11-1) at the Alameda Swap Meet in Los Angeles, California on January 5, 2008.
Viloria posted four more wins against Cesar Lopez (unanimous decision), Fred Heberto Valdez (3rd round KO), Juan Javier Lagos (UD) and Benjamin Garcia (2nd round KO).
After that Viloria went down to junior flyweight and defeated Solis. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are the only thing that motivates us. Please leave comments. Thank You!