SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Once again, Brian Viloria is hoping to land his Hawaiian punch.
The 26-year-old native of Waipahu gets another crack at the world title when he faces Edgar Sosa on Saturday at the Alamodome for the vacant World Boxing Council light-flyweight crown.
Viloria, who has the heart of a Filipino, his father Ben being an Ilocano, will try to regain the same crown he lost to Mexican Omar Ni?o Romero in August of 2006 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas.
Viloria, who won the title via a sensational first-round knockout of Eric Ortiz the year before, faced Romero in a rematch last November in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales trilogy.
But despite his gallant stand, victory slipped away from Viloria as the judges called it a draw. Ortiz, however, was stripped of the title after failing a drug test, leaving the title vacant for Viloria and Sosa to dispute.
“I’m prepared. I’m going to take back what’s rightfully mine,” declared Viloria Wednesday during the final press conference for the “Blaze of Glory” card featuring Manny Pacquiao vs Jorge Solis.
“It’s going to be a great show. I hope I can make everybody proud. It’s going to be a great night,” added Viloria, a former Olympian with a ring record of 19 wins (12 KOs), a loss and a draw.
His opponent, a 27-year-old native of Mexico City, is just as motivated.
“We’re motivated for this fight. We will take the title back to Mexico. We know Brian is strong and fast. But we’re very motivated. We came here to win,” he said.
With 26 wins (14 KOs) and five losses, Sosa is certainly no pushover. He has won his last 12 matches, mostly in Mexico, since losing to Ulises Solis in August of 2003 via a unanimous decision.
Ulises Solis is the younger brother of Pacquiao’s next opponent, Jorge.
