Waipahu's Viloria fights tonight
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The long-awaited debut was successful. Now, Brian Viloria is hoping for the same result for a long-awaited follow-up.
After more than four months since his debut victory at the Hawai'i Convention Center, Viloria will fight again tonight at the University of San Francisco's War Memorial Gymnasium.
The Waipahu boxer will take on Kenny Berrios of Puerto Rico in a scheduled four-round bout at 112 pounds. It will be part of a televised card on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, scheduled to start at 3 p.m. in Hawai'i.
"I'm ready to go," said Viloria, the 1999 world amateur champion and 2000 Olympian. "I've had to work really hard this past month, but I feel like I'm where I want to be."
In his professional debut on May 15, Viloria earned a four-round unanimous decision over Ben Jun Escobia. He broke a bone in his right hand during that bout and was not cleared by doctors to punch with it until mid-August.
"It feels 110 percent, better than ever," said Viloria, 20. "Once I got the green light to use (the right hand), I went all out in training and it's been fine. It's not even sore."
Prior to receiving clearance to punch, Viloria said he was maintaining his cardiovascular training by running and shadow-boxing at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles. To compensate for the lost time, Viloria has been sparring with boxers as much as 20 pounds heavier than him.
Still, Viloria's manager, Gary Gittelsohn, said he was cautious about selecting an opponent.
"It's a very tricky dilemma," Gittelsohn said. "Brian's debut was phenomenal, and everybody is anxious to see him again. But he's also been off for four months, and he needs to come back and feel his way back in the ring."
Berrios is 6-11-1, although Gittelsohn calls it "a deceptive record." Berrios has lost his only two fights this year, although both were to "name" opponents.
In January, he lost a four-round decision to Jose Navarro, who was Viloria's Olympic teammate. In March, Berrios suffered a sixth-round technical knockout loss to Brahim Asloum, the same French boxer who won a controversial decision over Viloria in the Olympics.
