By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Former WBC and IBF light flyweight champion Brian Viloria returns to the ring in Manila this June.

Viloria who is moving up to flyweight where he indicated he would be far more comfortable said the fight will take place in June provided everything goes according to plan.

Viloria who lost the IBF title in a heartbreaking 12th round TKO to Carlos Tamara of Colombia was leading on the scorecards of all three judges with just over 90 seconds remaining in the final round when referee Bruce McTavish called a halt with a totally drained Viloria on the ropes taking several punches and not being able to retaliate.

Viloria who is handled by the likeable Gary Gittelsohn told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that they have not found an opponent as of now.

At the same time the former two-time world champion who won the WBC title with a sensational first round knockout of Eric Ortiz on September 10, 2005 but lost it to Omar Nino Romero in a controversial decision on Augst 10, 2006 and won the IBF crown with a sensational 11th round knockout of highly fancied Ulises Solis in Manila  on April 19, 2009 said he believes “the step up in weight division would be better for my physical attributes.”

Viloria noted  that his first trainer, Albert "Quick" Silva who was inducted into the Hawaii Hall of Fame in 2008 after being involved in boxing for 70 years and also led Filipino-Americans Jesus Salud and Andy Ganigan to world championships told him "It's about time! I've been telling you to move up in weight for years!"

The US Olympian expressed confidence that he “will be back again on the world stage holding up  another world , my third one at that. Mark my word!.”

Viloria and his girlfriend Erika expressed their regret at not being able to attend the 10th Gabriel “Flash”  Elorde Annual Awards last March 25  because they had “ a lot of personal issues to deal with out here including the planning of our wedding.”. Viloria said he and Erika will be married on December 3 in Honolulu.