Viloria dreams of headlining Hawaii double-card with Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – If he would have his way, IBF light-flyweight champion Brian Viloria wants to fight in a double-card alongside his good friend, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, in Hawaii. According to sports columnist Dave Reardom of Hawaii-based Star-Bulletin, Viloria claimed both he and Pacquiao are interested to bring their act to Hawaii. "He’s (Pacquiao) mentioned it," said Viloria, who recently celebrated his conquest of the world title in Waipahu along with former champs Jesus Salud, Andy Ganigan and Ben Villaflor, as well as trainer Al Silva. "We've talked about it a couple of times." Pacquiao, boxing’s premier attraction and top box-office draw today, is apparently intrigued about fighting in Hawaii because, according to Viloria, "he knows there's a market out here." But for this major fight card involving the Pacman to be uprooted from Las Vegas and brought to the islands, Viloria admitted it would take the “perfect alignment of the stars and the right people." "I don't know, but anything's possible. There's some talk about it out there (mainland US). That's something that would be a dream come true. It's a matter of getting the stars aligned and getting the right people behind it," he said. And who are the right people? The Hawaiian Punch pointed to Top Rank honcho Bob Arum and legendary local promoter Tom Moffatt. "If they talk to each other, it has a chance," he said. This Hawaiian outing would not happen for Viloria at least for his next fight though, as the fighter with Ilocano blood is being eyed for a San Francisco card on Aug. 22, along with another Filipino, IBF and IBO flyweight boss Nonito Donaire Jr. No opponent has been announced yet for Viloria while Donaire is reportedly being considered for a shot at Puerto Rican Jose Lopez’s WBO super-flyweight belt. Viloria and Donaire had previously shared top-billing in “The Flash and the Furious" card last month in the Philippines in what turned out as a successful “homecoming" for the two US-based Pinoy fighters. Viloria knocked out Ulises Solis to get his second world title while Donaire retained his IBF strap by stopping Raul Martinez. –GMANews.TV