By Keith Idec
Brian Viloria has been very impressed while studying footage of Roman Gonzalez’s fights.
The former two-division champion is sure, though, that he is the best opponent the unbeaten Gonzalez has agreed to fight in his 10-year pro career. The 34-year-old Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs, 2 NC), a 2000 American Olympian from Waipahu, Hawaii, and Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) are scheduled to fight for Gonzalez’s WBC flyweight title Oct. 17, on the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux undercard at Madison Square Garden (HBO Pay-Per-View; 9 p.m. ET; $59.95 in HD).
“I’ve been watching tape endlessly for this fight,” Viloria said Tuesday on a conference call. “He does a lot of things correctly. Not to give too much away in terms of strategy, I just need to come in shape, do what I need to do in the gym and be able to fight 12 rounds like I’m fighting in the first round, and just let my hands go.
“I don’t think ‘Chocolatito’ has ever fought a guy who can hit as hard as me, and [I’m] a bit faster than the others he’s fought. I think I present a bit of a challenge for ‘Chocolatito’ in this fight. I have the experience. I’ve been in big battles, big fights and I don’t think ‘Chocolatito’ has ever fought a guy like me. All I need to do is come into the fight with a straight head and let my hands go. I don’t think I can train any harder than I’ve been doing already. And I’m just ready. I’m ready to go.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
