Viloria's title defense bout rescheduled to Sunday
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Brian Viloria will celebrate his 22nd birthday in the boxing ring on national television Sunday.
In what should be "one of the better showcases" of his young career, Viloria is scheduled to defend his North American Boxing Federation flyweight championship.
Viloria, the former Olympic boxer from Waipahu, will face Peru's Alberto Rossel in a scheduled 12-round bout at the Sports Plus Events Center in Lake Grove, N.Y.
It will be the featured main event on a nationally televised card for ESPN. The card will be televised live in Hawai'i starting at 9:30 a.m. (a rebroadcast will start at 3 p.m. on ESPN2).
"It's the main event on an ESPN card in New York," said Viloria's manager, Gary Gittelsohn. "There's not much more you can ask for at this stage of Brian's career."
Viloria is 9-0 with six knockouts. His last fight was on Aug. 30, when he earned a 12-round unanimous decision over Javier Lagos for the NABF title. Viloria also holds the WBC Youth Championship, for fighters under the age of 23, but that title will not be at stake Sunday.
Rossel is the same boxer who fought Viloria in West Virginia in July, and suffered a gash to his head after an accidental head butt. That bout was declared a no contest after a ringside doctor ruled that the gash was too severe for the fight to continue.
"There's unfinished business there, so that's why we wanted to fight Rossel again," Gittelsohn said.
Rossel is 11-4 with six knockouts. He has fought twice since the no-contest bout with Viloria, winning one and losing one.
Viloria and Rossel were originally scheduled to fight on the undercard of a HBO show Saturday featuring Mickey Ward and Arturo Gatti at Atlantic City, N.J.
"There certainly will be tons of interest in the Gatti-Ward fight, but Brian's fight would not have been televised nationally (on that card)," Gittelsohn said. "This ESPN deal is better from the standpoint of exposure for Brian."
Gittelsohn said Sunday's bout has added importance because a victory could mean "a step up in competition" for Viloria's next bout, probably in January.
