Viloria: I’m ready to take Roman’s title

By Boxing News - 10/15/2015 - Comments

1-ROMAN GONZALEZ VS BRIAN VILORI (11)By Tim Fletcher: #2 WBC Brian Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) is ready to face WBC flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) on Saturday night, and he feels confident that he’ll take his titles from him in their fight on HBO PPV from Madison Square Garden in New York.

Viloria, 34, is a considerable underdog in this fight, so he’s going to need to raise his game considerably for him to take Gonzalez’s titles from him. Viloria has a small 4-fight winning streak since his loss to Juan Francisco Estrada in 2013, but that probably won’t help him in this case because he’s way over his head. Viloria’s last four fights were against weak opposition, and that’s enabled him to keep winning.

This is a fight that is coming at the wrong time of Viloria’s career. It would have been a batter match-up if it took place when Viloria was still in his early 20s rather than now at 34. He’s not going to be able to stand up to Roman’s shots too well at his age, especially with all the punishment that Viloria has taken in his career. All those grueling fights against various fighters really adds up.

“Fighting a guy like Gonzalez, the number one pound-four-pound fighter in the sport, is a big challenge,” Viloria said. “He is as big as it gets for me, in my career. He is the biggest challenge I’ve faced to date. I’m going to show you the best Brian Viloria you’ve ever seen. I’m prepared to take the title from Roman.”

Viloria took some really big shots in his losses to Juan Francisco Estrada, Carlos Tamara, Omar Nino Romero and Edgar Sosa. Gonzalez would have destroyed most of those fighters. He did beat Estrada in a fight that took place several years ago. Estrada fought defensively in choosing to move all night long rather than stand and fight Gonzalez, and that made it difficult to give him more than one or two rounds tops.

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“I’m ready for this fight and will give my best,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t like to speak much, but I will say I had a great camp and feel strong and in good condition to win Saturday’s fight. I’m thankful and feel blessed that I am able to fight, and I am ready to give the fans a good fight.”

Gonzalez has pressure on him in this fight. He’s now seen as the new pound-for-pound fighter, and that means that he’s going to need to look really good in beating Viloria. He not only must beat Viloria, but he must dominate him as well. That’s not going to be easy because Viloria is a good fighter.



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