Viloria-Marquez unification battle slated Nov. 17 in LA

THE highly-anticipated unification bout between WBO flyweight champion Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria of the Philippines and WBA flyweight champion Hernan “Tyson” Marquez of Mexico will be held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Nov. 17, 2012.

This fight was previously scheduled to take place last September but underwent various postponements and venue changes and was even reported to be part of the Pacquiao-Marquez IV undercard.

The final date and venue of the fight billed as “Champion vs. Champion” was officially announced last Thursday in a press conference held in Los Angeles.

Viloria (31W-3L, 18 KOs) and Marquez (34W-2L, 25 KOs) are both at the top of their game.

Marquez has not lost in two years since he suffered an 8-round stoppage by Filipino Nonito Donaire in a fight held in Puerto Rico. He has since beaten Filipino boxers like Edrin Dapudong, Richie Mepranum and Fernando Lumacad.

The Mexican was also involved in a controversial weigh-in in his scheduled fight with Rodel Mayol last March. Mayol pulled out of the title fight in Mexico accusing Marquez of cheating at the scales.

Viloria, who traces his roots to Narvacan, Ilocos Sur but grew up in Waipahu, Hawaii, is a three time world champion in two different weight categories.

In his last two fights here in the Philippines, he stopped Mexican boxers Giovani Segura in eight rounds and Omar Nino Romero in nine rounds.

Viloria expressed confidence that he will unify the titles and plans to face WBA light flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez of Nicaragua on March 2013.