Viloria wins

source: mb.com.ph

HONOLULU (AP) – Filipino-American fighter Brian Viloria got a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Julio Cesar Miranda on Saturday night to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight championship bout.

Vi lor ia, the “Hawai ian Punch, ” jumped and pumped his fist in the air when he was announced the new world champion.

The former Olympian was in tears as his father gave him a bearhug and proudly lifted his son as the crowd roared.

The 30-year-old Viloria controlled the fight from the start, flooring Miranda in the opening minutes and landing body blow after body blow throughout the fight.

“I started off quick and I think Miranda got caught by surprise. But like a champion, he came back,” Viloria said of the fight which was aired over TV5 in the Philippines. “I give him a lot of credit. He fought his heart out and I also fought my heart out because I really wanted this.”

Viloria, who grew up west of Honolulu in a blue-collar, former sugar-plantation town of Waipahu, was badly bloodied but walked away with the belt.

Boxing judges Robert Hoyle giving a score of 98-91, Ruben Garcia with 96-93, and Tamotsu Tomihara – 97-93, favoured Viloria, holding a record of 29-3 and 16 knockouts, who claimed his first title at 112 pounds.

He previously held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight titles at 108 pounds.

The 31-year-old Miranda (28-4, 16 KOs) was making his fourth title defence since beating Richie Mepranum to win the title in June 2010.

The Mexican boxer had won his last five fights via knockout with none of the contests going beyond eight rounds. His last fight was a fourth-round TKO (technical knockout) over Arden Diale in February.

Miranda struggled to make it to 112 pounds, taking a couple hours to shed two pounds during the weigh-in Friday in Waikiki. He said the long flight and having to cut weight affected him.

source: mb.com.ph