Champ back in the ring by February

MANILA, Philippines - The bells are ringing for Brian Viloria, and he’ll get busy like never before.

“I want him to be back in the ring as early as mid-February,” said Viloria’s manager, Gary Gittelsohn moments after his ward defended his WBO flyweight crown.

“I want him to be an active champion,” Gittelsohn added.

In the closing minutes of the fight, as Viloria put the finishing touches on Mexican Giovani Segura, Gittelsohn was a little jumpy at ringside.

Gittelsohn was seen punching messages on his mobile phone, probably telling the whole world of what was happening inside the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City.

It took Viloria eight rounds to finish off Segura, whose trainer, Javier Capetillo, said a few days back all they need is six rounds to unseat Viloria.

“There’s a lot of ground to cover. Absolutely,” said Gittelsohn during the post-fight press conference.

He said Viloria’s victory over Segura opened a lot of windows for the two-time world champion from Hawaii.

“In the lower weights everyone out there is good and solid but we have a few names,” he said, dropping names such as Tyson Marquez, Ivan Calderon and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.

Gittelsohn said Viloria could face any one among them, and make the big fight out of it in the 112-pound division.

“With Ivan C alderon, they have a lot of unfinished business because they’ve four or five times in the amateurs. But those are the names.”

By February, Gittelsohn must have meant a tuneup fight for Viloria because it may be too early for a big fight.

“Of course, I’d like to unify the flyweight title someday and fight Tyson Marquez or Pongsaklek Wonjongkam,” said Viloria.

For the meantime, however, he’s enjoying time with his family, including wife Erika, and the holidays.

“All I need to do is to fight guys put in front of me. But I want to rest first because I really worked hard for this fight,” he said.

“This victory means so much to us. And on a scale of one to 10, I’m giving Brian a 20,” said Viloria’s chief trainer, Ruben Gomez.