Tough to get Viloria a fight

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist

Francisco Arce is an undefeated, up-and-coming flyweight whose biggest boxing payday to date, we are told, has been $2,500.

So, when he was offered $5,000 to meet Brian Viloria for the vacant World Boxing Council youth (for fighters age 23 and below) flyweight title on ESPN next month in Del Mar, Calif., the quick rejection came as a surprise.

Viloria's corner was almost incredulous when, after the proposal was sweetened to a reported $10,000, Arce's people still rejected it.

"I couldn't believe it," said Gary Gittelsohn, Viloria's manager.

The limits of Gittelsohn's belief are being stretched almost daily as he embarks upon what might be the only thing tougher than fighting the unbeaten Waipahu flyweight — finding an opponent to step into the ring against Viloria.

What Viloria did in the Blaisdell Center Arena ring May 17th, knocking out Sandro Oviedo 38 seconds into the first round, was great as a builder of confidence and polisher of box office appeal, but not a real plus for lining up future opponents.

While Viloria's corner wants to move him into a better, more challenging class of competition without overwhelming him, the going has gotten tougher as his list of victims grows.

Until the demolition of Oviedo, Viloria's professional resume had contained four knockouts in six bouts but only hinted at the explosiveness he was capable of. And while Oviedo, a 42-bout journeyman on the down side, was nobody to write home about, the brutal swiftness with which Viloria dispatched him was statement-making.

And the message was not lost on Eddie Gonzalez, the manager of the 6-0 Arce, who fights out of Mexico and Southern California. "Viloria is just too advanced for (Arce)," Gonzalez says. "Right now, he's too quick."

Indeed, between the acumen acquired over the course of a 200-bout world amateur championship and Olympic career and his glimpses of potential as a professional, Viloria is causing more than a few prospective opponents to pause even at the promise of lucrative paydays.

"Brian's reputation is growing," Gittelsohn said. "People here (in California) have had a chance to see him in the gym, so they know. We'll find someone for Brian (June 18th)," Gittelsohn maintains. "It will just take some doing."

After Viloria's first-round knockout of Oviedo, Gittelsohn had said, of his untouched fighter: "I don't think Brian knew he was even in a fight."

But Gittelsohn knows. The subsequent difficulty in getting his phone calls returned and deals accepted is proof of that.