Roman Gonzalez vs. Brian Viloria done deal for Golovkin-Lemieux undercard

One of the best action fights that can be made in boxing is set.

Brian Viloria broke the news to Paste BN Sports on Monday that he'll face Roman Gonzalez for the WBC flyweight championship on Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden. The matchup will serve as the HBO pay-per-view co-feature to the middleweight unification bout between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux.

"I've always gotten up for big, huge fights like this," Viloria, 34, said. "Especially fights where I've been the underdog. I actually relish in that a bit. They don't know if I still have what it takes to beat a guy like Roman Gonzalez. This is the type of fight that gets me pumped, gets my blood flowing and extremely motivates me in trying to perform to the best that I can."

Gonzalez, 28, is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and is coming off a two-round destruction of Edgar Sosa. The bout was the Nicaraguan's HBO debut, the first fight at 112 pounds or below on the network since the mid 1990s.

A vicious puncher, Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) has beaten some of the best the division has to offer: Akira Yaegashi, Juan Francisco Estrada and Francisco Rodriguez Jr. Now, "Chocolatito" will get to face another standard bearer in Viloria. The Hawaiian is a former two-division champ and went on a terrific run from 2011 to '13, defeating fighters like Giovani Segura, Omar Nino Romero and Hernan Marquez.

He dropped a split decision to Estrada in a 2013 slugfest, but rebounded with wins against more modest competition, punctuated by knockouts in his last three fights.

"I think a lot of people give (Gonzalez) a little too much credit vs. opposition that he should be getting out of the ring or he should be beating," Viloria declared. "In my eyes, I don't think he's really been tested the way I'm going to test him on Oct. 17, but he's very technical, he does the right things in the ring at the right time. I haven't really seen anybody put a lot of pressure on him or try to exchange with him as much as they should."

Viloria, nicknamed "Hawaiian Punch", trains at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood and says the legendary coach will work his corner on fight night. He realizes he's the underdog, but couldn't be more excited. After all, he's been waiting for an opportunity like this whole career.

"I think a lot of people are misjudging me because they haven't really seen the abilities in the ring that I can put out there," Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) said. "I believe when it comes to October a lot of people are going to be surprised at what they're going to see: that I'm a devastating puncher, that I can overcome a fighter like Roman Gonzalez."

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