BRIAN VILORIA gets another opportunity to prove that he is not a one-shot wonder when he squares off with Mexican Edgar Sosa for the vacant World Boxing Council light flyweight throne in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Jorge Solis super featherweight tussle on April 14 in San Antonio, Texas.
Viloria, who rose to prominence with a vicious first-round demolition of Eric Ortiz in Sept. 2005 to capture the WBC 108-lb crown, has been on a slide since that momentous occasion and is eager to return with a bang most especially now that he is under another renowned cornerman in Joe Goosen of Van Nuys.
Viloria had to part ways with Freddie Roach, who has been very much involved not only with Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya but with other marquee punchers as well.
Nicknamed “The Hawaiian Punch”, Viloria parades a 19-1-1 win-loss-draw card with 12 knockouts and will have to contend with a dangerous foe in Sosa, who sports a 26-5 slate with 14 knockouts under his belt. Sosa, from Mexico City, hasn’t tasted a loss since 2003 and is coming off a 14-fight win streak.
After taking the WBC title from Ortiz, Viloria made a defense of the title in February 2006 against the aging but still dangerous Jose Antonio Aguirre, who Viloria beat on points. Pitted against the tricky Omar Nino Romero in August, Viloria found the Mexican a tough nut to crack and was beaten on a decision and when they engaged in a rematch a few months later, Romero escaped withn a draw.
The WBC declared the title vacant early this year when Romero was found positive for a banned substance.
Viloria’s parents are from Narvacan and Sta. Maria towns in the Ilocos province but he was born and raised in Hawaii although he spent the first five years of his life with grandparents in Narvacan.
The soft-spoken Viloria, a former world amateur champion, represented the US in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
