Viloria gets NABF title shot
Advertiser Staff
Brian Viloria takes a major step up in his professional boxing career, going after the vacant North American Boxing Federation flyweight title Aug. 30 in New York.
Advertiser library photo • May 15, 2002
Viloria (8-0, 6 KOs), a 2000 Sydney Olympian from Waipahu, will meet Gabriel Munoz of Mexicali, Mexico in the 12-round main event of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," according to an ESPN spokesman. Munoz is 29-11-1 with 18 KOs.
Hawai'i's Brian Viloria is seeking the NABF flyweight title and a boost into the top 10 of the WBC world rankings.
"I'm training hard for it," Viloria said from his Los Angeles apartment.
Viloria's last fight, July 26 in Chester, W.Va, ended in a no-contest ruling after the referee stopped the bout when Alberto Rossel was unable to continue due to an inadvertent head butt.
Viloria, 21, who is ranked third by the NABF, had been in negotiations to fight two other potential opponents on the Aug. 30 card. Both of those proposed bouts, including one against No. 7 Everisto Primero of Mexico, fell through.
Munoz, 26, was certified as the "next available contender by the NABF," said Gary Gittelsohn, Viloria's manager. Munoz has held the North American junior flyweight, Americas light flyweight, Mexico light flyweight and Pacific junior bantamweight titles.
Viloria won the World Boxing Council youth flyweight title June 18 with a fifth round technical knockout of Francisco Soto at Del Mar, Calif. Junior titles are for boxers 23 and under.
The NABF title, which takes in fighters from the U.S., Canada and Mexico, carries more prestige and is a launching pad to a place in the top 10 of the WBC world ratings.
