SANTA MONICA ? After staying at the top of the lower weight divisions for the past decade, Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria has a chance to knock off the reigning pound-for-pound king on October 17 when he takes on Roman Gonzalez of Nicaragua.
Viloria and Gonzalez will face off at the Madison Square Garden in the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux fight card.
“I just trained myself to be the best for this fight, and knowing what kind of challenges is waiting for me next week, I’m just preparing myself to the best that night, wanting to perform,” he said. “I just want to take it to ‘ Chocolatito.'”
Gonzalez holds an undefeated 43-0 win-loss record, and owns a pair of titles in the flyweight division. He was named the top pound-for-pound fighter by The RING and ESPN last month after Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s retirement.
Viloria, meanwhile, has a 36-4 record and the former two-time world champion will enter the bout as an underdog.
“This is the type of fight? if you look at my fights against world champions where I was the underdog, I came out on top,” Viloria said.
As he winds down his training camp, Viloria had a sparring day with world flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, who will make his American debut on Carson the same night as Viloria’s fight. Nietes himself has expressed his desire to take on Gonzalez in the future.
(READ: Nietes resumes Pinoy Pride 33 training at the Wild Card Gym)
“Great work, great guy,” Viloria said of Nietes. “I know he’s going to do well on the 17th. We were helping each other prepare for our respective matches, and it was great work. I like the guy.”
The 34-year-old Viloria is currently on a four-fight winning streak, including three straight knockout victories.
