A strong undercard has been announced for the May 12th “Island Assault 4: The Battle” pay-per-view-event, featuring Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria vs. Omar Nino Romero III, live from Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
The 10-round co-feature matches a pair of former world champions, Julio Cesar “Pingo” Miranda (37-6-1, 29 KOs) and Rodel “Kid Rapido” Mayol (30-5-2, 22 KOs), in a 10-round bout with future world flyweight title fight implications.
Miranda, rated No. 3 by the WBO and No. 4 by the World Boxing Association (“WBA”), is a Mexican knockout artist who dropped his WBO title fight last year to Viloria. WBC No. 9 and IBF #12 Mayol, a Filipino now living in Los Angeles, lost his WBC Light Flyweight crown, ironically, to Romero in 2010.
The remainder of the May 12 PPV card is filled-out by the next wave of Filipino prospects. Robert “Battlin’ Bert” Udtuhan (17-1-1, 13 KOs) faces Alvin Makiling (9-4-1, 2 KOs) in a 12-round match for the Interim WBO Asia-Pacific Bantamweight Championship. In a special 10-round Featherweight Attraction, undefeated featherweight Jun “Chainsaw” Doliguez (11-0, & KOs) fights veteran Jonel “Mulawin” Alibio (16-13-2, 8 KOs).
The completion of the Viloria-Romero trilogy, originally slated for March 31, was temporarily delayed because the Nevada State Athletic Commission prevented the World Boxing Organization (“WBO”) from sanctioning the fight due to unpaid penalties on Romero’s part. From 2006, Romero has amassed a total of $11,500 in penalties which he needed to pay before the fight is sanctioned.
Three-time world champion Viloria (30-3, 16 KOs), a 2000 U.S. Olympian, defends his “WBO” title belt against two-time world title-holder Romero (31-4-2, 13 KOs), in the 12-round main event. Viloria won his first 20 pro fights, until he lost the World Boxing Council (“WBC”) light flyweight championship to Romero by way of a 12-round unanimous decision in 2006. Three months later, their rematch ended in a draw that was later changed to a “no contest” when Romero failed a post-fight drug test.
“Island Assault 4:The Battle,” presented by Solar Sports, is being distributed in the United States by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9:00 PM/ET – 6:00 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, DISH Network and Avail-TVN for a suggested retail price of only $29.95. “Island Assault 4: The Battle” will also be available in Canada to Super Channel subscribers. For on-line PPV viewers go to Ustream.tv at http://www.ustream.tv/integratedsportsppv.