THE HAWAIIAN PUNCH. Brian Viloria eyes a clash against Chocolatito Gonzalez in the near future. (Photo : Jhay Oh Otamias)
LOS ANGELES -- Former unified and undisputed flyweight world champion Brian "The Hawaiian Punch" Viloria (35-4, 21 KO's) may have been down in the trenches more times than he can count in his career, but one thing you can always depend on is the Waipahu, Hawaii native finding a way to climb back up to the top.
Viloria, 34, is on a three fight winning streak since losing his WBA and WBO flyweight belts to now reigning champion Juan Francisco Estrada. He looks to continue his winning ways this time in a 10-round bout against Danny Flores (14-7-1, 8 KO's) at the Florentine Gardens in Hollywood.
A victory would set up a potential clash with highly regarded Nicaraguan banger and pound-for-pound entrant, Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez.
Viloria entered the boxing scene with a one-punch knockout of Eric Ortiz back in 2005. Along the way he's hit various highs, including being the first fighter to unify the flyweight titles in nearly 50 years -- and disappointing lows such as unexpectedly losing to Carlos Tamara back in 2010.
Viloria's opponent, Flores, is a journeyman boxer on a three fight skid, and should be no problem for Viloria who's captured world titles in two divisions and is a former US Olympian.
Although the outcome of his next fight is certainly not in question, the real point to ponder is how Viloria's management can land the Gonzalez fight.
Gonzalez is eyeing both Viloria and former champion Giovani Segura as possible future opponents as he plans to fight on a Gennady Golovkin undercard.
Viloria defeated Segura decisively in 2011, completely dominating the Mexican-American stalwart before stopping him in the 8th round of a title bout. Then again, he's never really had too many problems getting up for big fights, it's the smaller, less significant fights that come out of nowhere that shock him.
If Viloria can get past Flores, which he is expected to, it will set the stage for a showdown with Gonzalez and a possible last hurrah for the Filipino-American.
A victory over Gonzalez would put Viloria back on top of the boxing world, as far as flyweights are concerned and would grant Viloria one more, perhaps final, shot at defining his career.
