Brian Viloria’s perseverance has finally paid off.
The four-time world boxing champion, who has made his desire to fight on a big network in the United States known for years, will get that opportunity on Oct. 17 when he challenges Roman Gonzalez for the WBC flyweight belt in the co-feature bout of an event at Madison Square Garden that will be broadcast on HBO pay-per-view.
The official announcement was made Tuesday by K2 Promotions in association with Teiken Promotions, which represents Gonzalez.
Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) will fight the undefeated Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs), who is ranked No. 2 on both ESPN’s and Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list behind Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The headliner is a middleweight unification title bout between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux.
“I’ve fought and won on the world’s biggest stages against the best of the best. I’ve prepared my whole life to win at every level of competition from World Amateur titles to the Olympic Games to professional world titles,” Viloria said in a press release. “And this fight, against Roman Gonzalez, is likely to be my biggest challenge yet. But, it’s Roman’s biggest challenge too. This is the realization of my dreams and I will make the most of it on fight night.”
The 34-year-old Waipahu High alumnus has rattled off four consecutive wins since losing the WBA and WBO flyweight belts to Juan Francisco Estrada in April 2013.
He’s won three in a row by knockout in five rounds or less and is coming off a first-round TKO of Omar Soto in July.
Viloria wasn’t the only boxer vying for the title shot against Gonzalez, but won out after a long negotiating process, according to manager Gary Gittelsohn.
“It was no easy task, I can assure you,” Gittelsohn said Tuesday. “We all made a fair deal all the way around, and I think this is going to be a special moment for Brian to step on that world stage at MSG.”
Throughout his career, Viloria has been at his best in his toughest fights.
In his first world title bout, he knocked out Eric Ortiz in the first round to win the WBC light flyweight title in September 2005.
Four years later as an underdog, Viloria handed Ulises Solis his first KO loss in the 11th round to win the IBF light flyweight belt.
He went on to win the WBO flyweight belt against Julio Caesar Miranda at the Blaisdell Arena in July 2011 and then scored TKO wins as an underdog against Giovani Segura and Hernan Marquez in an 11-month span.
Overall, he’s won 11 of his past 12 bouts, dropping the Estrada fight by split decision.
“It is the one thing I can tell you with certainty throughout his career that Brian has always responded best and always performed his best when he’s had a challenge,” Gittelsohn said. “The letdowns have always occurred when he wasn’t challenged and was expected to dominate.”
He’ll be the underdog to Gonzalez, who has won his past nine fights by TKO in the ninth round or earlier.
His last fight to go the distance was against Estrada in November 2012.
“I know Brian Viloria is a great champion and it will be a hard fight, but I am ready for the challenge,” Gonzalez said in the press release.
“I applaud Roman for accepting this fight. Together, we will give boxing fans something special, something they can talk about for a very long time,” Viloria said.
Gittelsohn said it took a unique scenario for HBO to agree to put 112-pound fighters in this spot on a pay-per-view.
“To have a flyweight world title championship fight as the co-feature on an event of this size is really a novel thing,” Gittelsohn said. “Brian and ‘Chocolito’ are a special combination.”
Tickets ranging from $50 to $500 go on sale Wednesday through all Ticketmaster outlets.
