CEBU, Philippines – Former two-division world champion Brian ‘Hawaiian Punch’ Viloria (36-4, 22KOs) faces a daunting task as he tries to dethrone world pound-for-pound king and WBC flyweight title-holder Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (43-0, 37KOs) in their highly anticipated showdown today at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
The fighters will be a co-feature of the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux middleweight unification title fight. The Nicaragua superstar and the Filipino-American challenger both weighed in at 111.4 lbs during the official weigh-in yesterday at the Madison Square Garden.
Viloria will step into the ring as a solid underdog, but the 34-year-old believed that he has what it takes to score an upset over Gonsalez.
A win will surely make Viloria as one of the most accomplished boxer in his generation.
"Anybody in this sport can be beaten. So that's the mentality I'm going in with — it's all or nothing," the Honolulu, Hawaii native said in an interview with boxingscene.com.
For his part, the 28-year-old Gonzalez has yet to taste defeat as he dominated three boxing divisions in the flyweight, light flyweight and minimumweight division.
Known for his aggressive style and impeccable technique, Gonzalez won his last nine fights via knockout including a sixth round stoppage against ALA Boxing Gym’s Rocky ‘Road Warrior’ Fuentes. In his recent title defense last May in California, Gonzalez only took two rounds to dispatch Mexican Edgar Sosa. (FREEMAN)