After a fair bit of rumour, speculation and conjecture surrounding who would be in the opposite corner for the second HBO appearance of Nicaraguan flyweight sensation Roman Gonzalez, it has been confirmed that Hawaii’s Brian Viloria will indeed be the man challenging the P4P star on October 17th in New York on the Golovkin/Lemieux undercard.
Excitement is building for the fight, that many are hoping will see the 34 year old “Hawaiian Punch” – a former champ at light-fly and unified champ at flyweight – provide Gonzalez with his toughest test to date.
Clearly in confident mood, Gonzalez said of the fight;
“I know Brian Viloria is a great (former world) champion and it will be a hard fight, but I am ready for the challenge. I have faith that God will give me the strength to keep training and be able to give all my fans my best fight ever.”
K2’s Tom Loeffler, who looks after Gennady Golovkin and is co-promoting the main event, announced that he was pleased that Gonzalez and Teiken Promotions were again involved with a GGG card after a sensational HBO debut on May’s GGG/Monroe bill;
“We’re thrilled to welcome back Roman Gonzalez as the co-feature once again to one of Gennady’s fights
“His performance at the Forum in May was extraordinary and made for a terrific pairing. With Roman defending his title against former world champion Brian Viloria, one of the best flyweights in the world, fans in the arena and those watching on HBO pay-per-view will see an outstanding battle as the lead-in to Golovkin versus Lemieux.”
Viloria, a former Olympian who has been involved in some all action contests of his own over the years, and is the most credible American based test available for Gonzalez, said;
“I’ve fought and won on the world’s biggest stages against the best of the best. I’ve prepared my whole life to win at every level of competition from world amateur titles to the Olympic Games to professional world titles, and this fight against Roman Gonzalez is likely to be my biggest challenge yet.
“But it’s Roman’s biggest challenge too. This is the realization of my dreams and I will make the most of it on fight night.
“I applaud Roman for accepting this fight. Together we will give boxing fans something special — something they can talk about for a very long time.”
The third mooted bout for the PPV card pits former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne against big-hitting unbeaten Cuban Luis Ortiz. The fight is believed to be a done deal in principle yet contracts have not yet been exchanged and signed.
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