Roman Gonzalez vs. Brian Viloria
Photo by Will Hart/HBO
Lou Catalano, Senior Writer
The newly-crowned pound-for-pound king, Roman Gonzalez, takes on hard-hitting Brian Viloria.
This fight is a smaller version of the main event, where both can bang, but one guy is more nuanced than the other. Viloria will still be making fun fights when he’s in a nursing home somewhere, dropping some poor sap for stealing his strawberry pudding.
Still, like everybody else who fights “Chocolatito,” he’s in over his head here. Gonzalez by KO.
Prediction: Gonzalez
Ardy Ajoste, Graphic Designer
Prediction: Gonzalez
Brandon Glass, Staff Writer
“Chocolatito” is back against the “Hawaiian Punch” and it’s going to be a banger for however long or short the fight lasts. A guaranteed fan friendly matchup here.
As much as I like Brian Viloria, Roman Gonzalez is on a nine-fight KO streak and though Viloria (on a three fight KO streak of his own) poses a real threat to Gonzalez’s reign at Flyweight, Gonzalez is in his peak.
You don’t get to be No.1 pound for pound by happenstance. Gonzalez is the best in the world right now and while Viloria will do his best to make this difficult, the accuracy with which Gonzalez punches in close quarters is deadly.
Prediction: Gonzalez
Brent Herrin, Staff Writer
WBC Flyweight champion Ramon “Chocolatito” (43-0, 37 KOs) will square off against Brian Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) Saturday night on the Golovkin vs Lemieux undercard.
This is going to be another opportunity for Gonzalez to show audiences why he sits atop the pound-for-pound mountain.
Viloria may perhaps make the bout interesting in the early going, but will ultimately fulfill his roll as the sacrificial lamb somewhere around the fifth or sixth round.
Prediction: Gonzalez
Ismael Gallardo, Photographer
Prediction: Gonzalez
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
It’s pretty impressive that this fight card is featuring two outstanding fights with pound-for-pound fighters in their prime. In both fights, the B side certainly has a shot for however long it lasts.
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, who seemingly came out of nowhere to grab the top spot on many mythical pound-for-pound lists after Floyd Mayweather retired, gets his second opportunity in front of US fans against the always tough and heavy-hitting former champion, Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria.
Chocolatito’s first go round on HBO was a two-round shellacking of Edgar Sosa, and there is no better way to introduce yourself to casual fight fans then with a knockout. Viloria is tough, but at 34 years of age I just don’t think he’ll be able to bang with Gonzalez for more than a few rounds.
It’ll be fun to watch, but Gonzalez will break down the former champ to score a mid-rounds knockout.
Prediction: Gonzalez
