Unbeaten Puerto Rican wants piece of Viloria


Brian Viloria has yet to throw a punch against Mexican challenger Juan Francisco Estrada, whom he will face on Saturday, but this early, an undefeated Puerto Rican is emerging as the next Filipino world champion’s opponent.

Jonathan Gonzalez is challenging the 32-year-old Viloria, a Filipino-American based in Waipahu, Hawaii, for a title fight later this year.

Viloria (32-3 with 19 KOs) is the reigning World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association flyweight champion. He will defend his 112-pound belts against Estrada (22-2 with 18 knockouts) on Saturday at the Venetian Casino and Resort in Macau.

Gonzalez (12-0 with 11 KOs) is one of the rising flyweight contenders and believes he is ready to take on Viloria. Gonzalez, however, needs to hurdle an undetermined opponent on May 18 to be able to set a date with Viloria.

Peter Rivera, Gonzalez’s promoter from the Puerto Rico-based Best Boxing, told BoxingScene.com that they intend to watch the Viloria-Estrada fight at ringside and from there try to arrange a meeting with Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum for a shot at the “Hawaiian Punch.”

“Jonathan is ranked globally. Now our sights are set on Viloria. We will go to China and we will try to outline a plan for Gonzalez to get him a fight for the 112-pound world title this year. But first, we want to see what Viloria’s people say and what their plans are,” said Rivera.

Viloria last fought on November 17, scoring a 10th-round technical knockout win over Hernan Marquez (34-3 with 25 KOs) of Mexico for his sixth straight victory. He has not lost since losing by technical knockout to Colombian Carlos Tamara (23-17 with 17 KOs) on January 23, 2010, in Manila.

Viloria is in his final days of preparation for his title defense. He trained at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under the supervision of Filipino assistant trainer Marvin Somodio. He sparred with bigger boxers, like two-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion Zou Shiming of China.

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