By Ronnie Nathanielsz
IBF light flyweight champion Brian Viloria’s first title defense against Mexico’s tough Jesus Iribe at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu is creating a lot of excitement in Hawaii especially among Hawaiian boxers.
Dayton Morinaga of the Honolulu Advertiser reports that eight of Hawaii’s boxers are hoping to cash in on the stimulus package engineered by Viloria’s return on a main event in Honolulu after an absence of six years.
Morinaga says thanks to a world championship bout featuring Waipahu’s Viloria eight other boxers will get opportunities to fight on the undercard and a chance to be spotted by such distinguished boxing managers as Gary Gittelsohn who handles Viloria.
Isaac Arasato who is scheduled to see action in the opening bout of the “Island Assault” card presented by Solar Sports said “I feel fortunate just to be on a pro card here. I know a lot of fighters wanted to be on the card. I have to make the most of it.”
Arasato told Morinaga “boxing is a business and it’s been slow here, just like the economy. This might be the jump start we need.” In fact the Honolulu Advertiser report said boxing in Hawaii has been “in a great depression for the past decade." The last significant fight card was held six years ago when Viloria last fought in Honolulu.
Another promising fighter who will see action on the card is Mike Balasi who has been waiting patiently for a rare opportunity to fight. Balasi turned pro in 2001 but has had only eight bouts since then and he is aching to fight and earn some money. The 28 year old Balasi said “boxing is my passion that’s why I’m still in it.” But Balasi claims its hard work since he earns a living as a truck driver from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and then trains after that. He said “it’s a rigorous schedule but that’s what I have to do.”
Mixed martial arts has taken over from boxing as the most popular combat sport in Hawaii and forced boxers like Balasi to grudgingly learn wrestling and jiu-jitsu so he could stay active in MMA during the lack of boxing bouts. Balasi admits “I didn’t like MMA, not really. I had to learn groundwork for the first time. I basically did it because that was the only way to get fights here.”
However, with the Viloria fight card and a chance to showcase his talent Balasi has been able to fully focus on boxing in recent months. He believes it is “pretty big that Brian (Viloria) is fighting here. It's giving me a chance to fight on a pro card.”
Balasi who often represented Hawaii alongside Viloria at youth boxing tournaments in the 1990’s, understands why Viloria’s career skyrocketed and he’s didn’t. “Brian was ranked No. 1 in the country every year when we were kids. The highest I got was No. 6. When you are the No.1 guy, you’re going to get way more opportunities” added Balasi.
Bruce Kawano who is the head trainer at the Kalakaua Gym said “Brian is our only hope right now, but there’s so many others who want to follow in his footsteps.”
The hope is that the fights on Saturday may give the Hawaii boxers a chance to impress Viloria’s manager, the likeable Gary Gittelsohn or even a promoter who may be among the fans watching the fights. Kawano said Gittelsohn who had inquired about some of the local fighters on the card told him he’s “going to keep an eye out. So hopefully one of these guys could put on a good show and be the next Brian Viloria.”
