INQUIRER Sports

WORLD LIGHT FLYWEIGHT CHAMpion Brian Viloria is confident the fight card he is headlining opposite Mexican Jesus “El Azul” Iribe will not end up in the red this coming weekend at the Blaisdell Center in Hawaii.

Hawaii newspapers have raised doubts about the ability of Viloria to fill up the venue as boxing has taken a backseat to Mixed Martial Arts in the island paradise.

“Boxing is but a memory here. A distant, fading one at that,” was how Honolulu Advertiser columnist Ferd Lewis described the sport in one of his columns.

But the 28-year-old Viloria (25-2, 15 KOs) is unperturbed as he told the Inquirer about the buzz going with his return to Hawaii with only a few days before he defends his IBF light flyweight belt against Iribe (15-5-5, 9 KOs).

“Right now there are no big name fighters that come out to draw attention but hopefully that changes come Saturday (Sunday in Manila),” said Viloria in an overseas interview with the Inquirer.

In the golden years of Hawaii boxing in the ’80s and ’90s, the likes of Jesus Salud, Ben Villaflor and Andy Ganigan, who all trace their roots to the Philippines, routinely filled some 5,000 seats of the 8,000-seater Blaisdell Center.

American manager Gary Gittelsohn points to the more than a dozen media obligations of Viloria as a sign that the card will do well at the gates.

“We’re making sure we pay attention to Brian’s training but at the same time we also want to be sure he can come back for future fights by taking care of these obligations since Hawaii is his home, too,” said Gittelsohn.

Part of the card dubbed “Island Assault” is another Philippines-Mexico faceoff between Cebu native AJ “Bazooka” Banal against former WBC continental champion Jose Angel Beranza.