Viloria to face nemesis at Astro

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MANILA, Philippines - IBF lightflyweight champion Brian Viloria is set to stake his crown against Omar (Niño) Romero of Mexico in their third grudge match at the Cuneta Astrodome on Dec. 5 and the Hawaiian Punch plans to end all doubts as to who is the better man.

There’s no love lost between the fighters. In August 2006, Viloria lost the WBC 108-pound title in his second defense to Romero on a unanimous 12-round decision.

Viloria, who won the championship by knocking out Eric Ortiz in one round the year before, was far from his top form as Romero won convincingly on the judges’ scores of 118-110 (Adalaide Byrd), 117-111, (Chuck Giampa) and 117-112 (Mark Green).

Three months later, Romero retained the title on a majority draw but was later stripped of the crown after testing positive for illegal drugs. Viloria went on to fight for the vacant throne but was outpointed by Mexican Edgar Sosa via a majority decision.

Now, Viloria is back in the saddle and Romero is once more the challenger in his second defense. But this time, Viloria is making sure there will be no déjà vu.

He’s determined to knock out Romero who’s coming off three straight wins over Francisco Soto, Sammy Gutierrez and Filipino Juanito Rubillar.

Viloria, 28, flew to Manila for a vacation after turning back Jesus Iribe in his first IBF title defense in Honolulu last August. It was in Manila where he halted Ulises Solis for the IBF crown and Viloria wants to treat the hometown fans with another victory – at Romero’s expense.

But if there’s anyone who has the ability to frustrate Viloria, it’s Romero. The crafty Mexican is a smooth operator, difficult to hit and quick on the draw.

He has a 28-3-1 record, with 11 KOs, and holds wins over Sosa and former champion Jorge Arce. His only losses were to Juan Alberto Rosas, Gilbert Keb Baas and Rubillar.

Romero, 33, is in the twilight of a long career that started in1995. He’s looking for redemption after being embarrassed by the drug scandal and this will likely be his last chance to recapture a world title. For the Mexican veteran, it’s do or die and that’s why he’s a dangerous opponent for Viloria.

Romero started off his career with 14 straight wins and although not known as a knockout artist, he halted Arce in a single round in 1996.

In the undercard, WBO minimumweight champion Donnie Nietes will put his crown on the line against either Ivan (Polito) Meneses of Mexico or Omar (El Pastor) Soto of Puerto Rico. It will be Nietes’ fourth defense of the vacant title he claimed after whipping Thailand ‘s Pornsawan Porpramook in 2007.

He has so far repulsed challengers Eddy Castro, Erik Ramirez and Manuel Vargas.

ALA Boxing Gym owner Tony Aldeguer told The Star yesterday that Solar Sports is looking for a Mexican opponent and Meneses looms as the top candidate. Meneses has a 14-5-1 record, with eight KOs, and is ranked No. 8 by the WBC, No. 11 by the WBA and No. 11 by the WBO. Soto, 27, is the No. 5 WBC contender and last month, was stopped by Sosa in a bid for the WBC crown.

“Solar prefers a Mexican so we are scouting for one or we may get another Omar Soto who is Mexican but I think he has gone up in weight,” said Aldeguer. “Meneses as an opponent is not sure. We hope to finalize the match this week.”

Nietes is unbeaten in his last 16 outings and has a 25-1-3 record,with 14 KOs . His only loss was a split 10-round decision to Angky Angkota in Jakarta in 2004.

For sure, when Nietes shows up to fight at the Astrodome, he’ll enter the ring with his pet snake curled over his shoulders. Nietes is known as “Ahas.”

In another world title fight, Solar is bringing in newly crowned International Boxing Association superbantamweight champion Ana (The Hurricane) Julaton to defend her crown against a still unnamed challenger.

Julaton, 29, is a full-blooded Filipina born and raised in the US. She won the vacant IBA title on a 10-round majority decision over Kelsey Jeffries in San Jose last September.

The scores were 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95. Julaton’s record is 5-1-1, with one knockout. Last year, she blasted Salina Jordan into submission in a single round. Her only loss was a split eight-round decision to Dominga Olivo in Lemoore , California , for the vacant WBC International 122-pound title.