Hands of Steel, Heart of Mush
World champ Brian Viloria of Waipahu is a tough guy with a soft spot when it comes to kids, so he’s leading the Ronald McDonald House Marathon Day Walk on Sunday
By Chad Pata
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World champion Brian Viloria clowns around at
the heavy bag with his nieces Loraine and Alyssa
Diego and nephew Fredrick David
the strongest puncher pound-for-pound in the world.
But then the unexpected happened.
Ten minutes later Contreras’ brain began hemorrhaging and he was rushed to the hospital. He survived, but his career was over and Viloria was forever changed as a person.
“I told my father if he didn’t survive I was walking away from the sport,” says Viloria. “It made me realize how precious life is, and you can go at anytime.”
The transformation of Viloria was completed on Sept. 10, when he knocked out Eric Ortiz in the first round with a vicious right hand to take the WBC light flyweight title.
And who was at ringside to watch? Ruben Contreras.
Viloria greeted him after the fight, presenting him with a check for an undisclosed amount to aid in his recovery - an unheard-of gesture of generosity for a man who had been
trying to beat him just a few months prior.
“To see Ruben Contreras there by ringside, that means more to me than any championship,” Viloria told reporters after the fight.
While they remain friends, communication is difficult as Contreras speaks only Spanish. But while their languages do not mesh, the message is always with Viloria.
Speak softly and
carry a big fist
“It makes me train that much harder, to protect myself, so that something like that doesn’t happen to me,” says Viloria.
His training is constant, a six-hours-a-day regimen of running, gym work and aquatics, where he shadowboxes in a pool. Fighting at a weight of 108 pounds, four pounds down from his natural weight, he must be as careful about what he puts into his body as how hard he works it.
He is preparing for his first title defense in February, which is tentatively scheduled to go down in Las Vegas. Although he hopes to one day fight again in Hawaii, circumstances conspire against it.
“My people are working on it, but it is hard with the money and the time difference for television,” says Viloria.
Living in L.A., he is separated from his family in Waipahu, but does enjoy the anonymity of the city.
“I get recognized once and awhile, but L.A. is so huge, its rare,” says Viloria, who has been living in California since he turned pro in 2000. “I do miss the food and people in Hawaii, you know, the aloha spirit. Everyone in L.A. is doing their own thing.”
Although he has family in California, including the nieces and nephew pictured here, it’s not the same as home. So Viloria has found entertainment in online gaming, particularly shooting games, which led him to discovering the many gun ranges available in California.
“I really enjoy going and shooting my .45,” says Viloria, who you’d think would be among the few people in L.A. who would not need one for protection.
No question this is a tough guy - he proves it every time he steps into the ring. Yet when it comes to kids ...
“You just see him with the kids and they are so happy,” says Davis.
This is the hope that Viloria hopes to bring by attaching his rising star to the Ronald McDonald House’s Marathon Day Walk. If more local people get behind the event, then more local kids can enjoy the benefits that RMHC makes available to families in their time of need.
If you would like to participate in the walk, late registration is possible at the Marathon Expo at the Hawaii Convention Center. Be prepared for an early morning, though, as the walkers start lining up at 4:30 a.m.
The fee is $38, which includes pre-walk fireworks and a participation T-shirt. If walking is not your thing but you would still like to help, you can contact RMHC at 587-8255 or online at ronaldhousehawaii.org
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