UNDEFEATED World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight king Brian Viloria and challenger Jose Antonio Aguirre have one common denominator ` both fought former champion Eric Ortiz in the past.
But the similarity ends there as their respective fights with Ortiz produced different results.
While Aguirre lost to Ortiz, Viloria demolished the Mexican warrior with a devastating first round knockout five months ago to snatch the WBC 108 lbs. title.
Going by that logic alone, Viloria feels confident enough he’ll be able to beat the 30-year old Aguirre when they square off today at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I’m even better prepared today than when I fought Ortiz,” proclaimed the 25-year old Viloria, the boxer dubbed ‘The Hawaiian Punch.’
“I sparred a lot more and with a lot better partners this time,” added Viloria of his training for the fight, which included sparring against rising Filipino boxing star Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista.
Viloria’s first defense of his title is the major under card in the title clash between reigning champion Antonio Margarito and Manuel Gomez for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship.
The fight will be aired on Solar Sports and RPN-9 on a slightly delayed basis starting 10 a.m. with veteran commentator Quinito Henson and Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao giving the blow-by-blow account from ringside.
The two fighters easily made the limit during yesterday’s weigh-in also at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino.
The 25-year old Viloria, raised in the Philippines by a Filipino couple from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur but grew up in Waipahu, Hawaii, checked in at 107 lbs. while Agu-irre of Tabasco, Mexico came in at 107.5 lbs.
A member of the US team to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Viloria said he’ll both carry the US and Philippine flag on his way to the ring.
“I am going to represent my nationality, American, and my heritage, Filipino. I am very proud of both,” said the Viloria, who thanked his supporters by talking in English, Tagalog and Ilocano before blurting out ‘Aloha’ to end his spiel during the final press conference of the fight on Thursday.
Although he’s coming off back-to-back losses against Ortiz and more recently, to World Boxing Association (WBA) light flyweight champion Roverto Vazquez, Aguirre is certain of dethroning Viloria and snatching his second world title.
“I want to thank Brian Viloria and Bob Arum for giving me another shot at a title,” said the ex-WBC minimumweight champion. “This time, I’m walking out of the ring with a belt.”
Viloria carries a mean 18-0 record, 12 of them inside the distance. Aguirre on the other hand, sports a 33-4-1 card with 20 knockouts. One of his victims during his reign as champion is Filipino Manny Melchor. Referee Tony Weeks will be the third man on the ring while the three judges are Ray Hawkins, CJ Ross and Glenn Trowbridge.
