He also said he doesn’t care about the prediction made by Segura’s trainer, Javier Capetillo, that all they need is six rounds to wrest the 112 lb title away from the Filipino champ.
“It doesn’t matter even if he’s number one pound-for-pound. I’m not gonna be afraid of him unless he has four hands,” said Viloria during yesterday’s official press conference.
The fight is set Sunday at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City. Since the exciting card will be beamed live to the United States, the main bout will take place at around noontime.
The official weigh-in is set at 10 a.m. Saturday at the beautiful Midas Hotel along Roxas Boulevard.
Viloria and Segura, former amateur boxers and former sparring partners, came face to face at The Paladium in Makati City, and talked about the coming fight set for 12 rounds.
Viloria, also the former world light-flyweight champion, fielded the opening questions that had to do with Segura’s pound-for-pound ranking and Capetillo’s bold prediction.
“In this type of sport everybody wants to predict how the fight would go. But in reality it’s unpredictable. Anything can happen,” said Viloria, who turned 31 only 13 days ago.
“Maybe he’s just trying to motivate his fighter. Those are the things to say for people to look forward to, and for people to hear and try to see,” added Viloria.
He said what really matters is how much hard work was put in by the fighters in training, so they can put on a good show on Sunday.
Viloria, who’s 29-3-0 with 16 knockouts, is confident and ready to keep the title he snatched from Mexican Julio Cesar Miranda last July in Hawaii.
“I’m very confident and Giovani is ready, too. It comes down to who puts his best foot forward, whether it’s four, five or twelve rounds,” added the boxer known as the “Hawaiian Punch.”
Segura, who gave up his WBO light-flyweight crown to face Viloria, is the most dangerous foe out there for the Filipino because he has the ability to stop his opponent with one punch.
Segura, 29, is 29-1-1 with 24 knockouts, 11 of them coming in the first round. He fought as an amateur, starting off when he was 15, and worked his way to the top of his division.
He sounded like a gentle person, saying during his short stay in Manila he enjoyed visiting the “Asian Mall” when he was referring of course to the Mall of Asia.
“I’m happy to be here. I mean, I can tell my friends, ‘Wow I went to Manny’s (Pacquiao) country. One of my favorite places now is the Asian Mall. We go around there and try different things,” he said.
The fighter who knocked out erstwhile undefeated Ivan Calderon in the third round last April said he’s friends with Viloria but vowed to go for the knockout as his trainer had said.
“Me and Brian are friends. But we’re here to fight. He’s ready, I’m ready. We’re here to knock each other out,” said Segura, who has a soft heart for the less fortunate.
He broke down when he talked about the street children of Manila, and how it should feel for Pacquiao to be helping them out, giving away so much of his earnings to the poor.
“I will take these stories home to my kids. And now I realize I need to thank God for what I am today,” said Segura who had to pause for a minute, sobbing, overcome by his emotions.
“Just being here to fight Brian is a dream come true,” he said.
Capetilla, who had a hand in Antonio Margarito’s controversial hand-wraps issue during the fight against Shane Mosley, said all they need is six rounds to finish off Viloria.
He refused to talk about the Margarito issue.
“It’s a past issue. It’s dead. I want to talk about Segura-Viloria,” said Capetilla.
Viloria’s own trainer, Ruben Gomez, said there’s no point talking about the hand-wraps because “it’s not going to be an issue in this fight.”
“This is the fight I don’t want to happen because I know them (Segura camp). I’ve known them for a long time. But this fight had to happen,” said Gomez.
“And I don’t make predictions. All I can say is that this is going to be a great fight,” he added.
He’ll let Brian to do the talking on Sunday.
By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)
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