Waipahu boxer Brian Viloria will not be in the spotlight, but he will continue his quest to regain a world title on a grand stage on Saturday.

Viloria will face Mexico's Cesar Lopez on the undercard of an international pay-per-view event on Saturday at the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

The main event will feature Jermain Taylor against Kelly Pavlik in a much-anticipated rematch.

Viloria's non-title bout will not be on the pay-per-view broadcast.

"That's by my choice," said Gary Gittelsohn, Viloria's manager. "This is a huge card. There's going to be a lot of people in attendance and a lot of people watching (on pay-per-view). But we're on a program to start Brian from the bottom, so to speak, and work his way back to the top. And I didn't want him to be worried about anything other than regaining some of the ground he lost in 2007."

Viloria is 20-2 after earning a unanimous decision over Jose Garcia Bernal on Jan. 4. That was his first victory since February 2006.

"The plan is to keep Brian as active as possible this year, with the goal being to eventually fight for a world title again," Gittelsohn said.

Viloria won the WBC light flyweight (108 pounds) world championship in 2005. He is now in the flyweight (112 pounds) division.

"I think that's a better weight for Brian, a more natural weight," Gittelsohn said. "Literally, the day after his last fight, we started making plans for this fight. Once we saw that he didn't have any injuries or cuts or soreness in his hands, we said 'Let's get you back in the ring.' "

Gittelsohn said he even made Viloria cancel a vacation to New York so he could train for Saturday's bout.

"He didn't get a break at Christmas, so he was hoping to get one after that fight in January," Gittelsohn said. "But I told him if he's serious about getting another world championship, he needs to put those things on hold for now."

Lopez is 20-5 and a former world title contender. He lost an IBA flyweight world championship bout by unanimous decision to Isidro Garcia last year.

"This is a serious opponent; they all are at this point," Gittelsohn said. "Brian needs regular action — some rounds under his belt against seasoned guys — and he should get that with this fight."

Viloria has been training at the La Colonia Boxing Club in Oxnard, Calif., since December under trainer Robert Garcia.

"That's turned out to be the best place for Brian," Gittelsohn said. "There's no distractions, it's a real no-nonsense environment."

A capacity crowd of 16,000 is expected to attend Saturday's event.

Taylor is 27-1, with his only loss to Pavlik in September. Pavlik is 32-0.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.