By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The manager of WBC light flyweight champion Brian Viloria says his fighter can’t resume training as yet following an injury to his right hand suffered in his first title defense against former champion Jose Antonio Aguirre last February.
Gary Gittelsohn informed Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that Viloria “has not been given the green light to resume full contact training” which meant he couldn’t spar or even use the punch mitts or heavy bag.
Gittelsohn said he understood that the WBC “will be proceeding with an interim title bout between the two leading contenders” Juanito Rubillar of the Philippines who was listed as the mandatory challenger to Viloria and No.2 ranked Wandee Singwancha of Thailand.
Rubillar’s manager Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde said he was offering Wandee a chance to fight Rubillar in Manila in June but first wanted the WBC to get Viloria to submit a medical certificate attesting to his injury. Elorde said he merely wanted to make sure that Viloria wont be able to fight for the next six months following unconfirmed reports that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was planning a rematch between Viloria and Aguirre within the next few months.
WBC president Jose Sulaiman had earlier written to Elorde informing him that the WBC had “ordered an interim championship due to Brian Viloria’s medical status” and asked Elorde whether Rubillar was ready to participate since the free negotiations period was in effect right now.
