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Viloria debuts with flourish in flyweight

07/12/2010

Former two-time world champion Brian Viloria debuted with flourish in flyweight division, scoring a split decision against Mexican Omar Soto Saturday night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

There were no knockdowns in the 10-round non-title bout serving as Viloria’s comeback fight, but the 29-year-old native of Honolulu, Hawaii inflicted damages enough to earn the nod of two of the three judges.

Ricardo Canlas and Edwin Sese saw the fight in Viloria’s favor, scoring it both 97-93, while lawyer Epi Almeda had it 97-93 for Soto.

Although satisfied with the win fashioned out before a sizeable weekend crowd that included reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Rep. Manny Pacquiao and former two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa, Viloria admitted there are still a lot of things to improve in his bid to win a third world championship.

“I was off six months. I thought this is a good step. I wanted to be safe in there. I don’t want to make it too dramatic,” said Viloria in the post-fight press conference of the boxing card billed “Unbreakable” (Boxing At The Bay 4) promoted by Solar Sports.

“I will go back straight to the gym and work even harder for the next fight.”

Viloria improved to 27-3, with 15 KOs. The win was the first for the former Olympian, who suffered a heartbreaking 12-round knockout loss to Columbian Carlos Tamara in January to yield his International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight title.

Accompanied by his team including fiancé Erika Navarro and trainers Ruben Gomez and Frank Liles, Viloria is bound to visit relatives in Ilocos by Monday and then flies back to the US just before the week is over.

He said a possible next fight may come either in October or November.

Soto fell to 19-7-2 with 13 KOs , and didn’t hide his disappointment about getting the raw end of the deal.

“I traveled a long way and I expected a lot. I think the fight was a lot closer in my favor,” added the Mexican, who sported a blot on his right eye, which he claimed was courtesy of a Viloria headbutt.

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