MANILA, Philippines?Brian Viloria delivered a performance enough to win, but not sufficient to boost his comeback bid.
The former two-time world flyweight champion controlled the fight in the first five rounds but spent the last six fending off Mexican Omar Soto on Saturday night before settling for a split decision win in their 10-round nontitle bout.
It was a disappointing evening for the majority of the Ynares Sports Center fight fans who had expected Viloria to put up a show and make a good case for a third shot at the world title.
That gallery included no less than boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
At least the man called ?Hawaiian Punch? didn?t run out of steam, as he did in his previous fight in January, when he lost his IBF light flyweight crown to Columbian Carlos Tamara.
All three Filipino judges scored it 97-93 with Edwin Sese and Ricardo Canlas favoring Viloria and Epi Almeda picking Soto.
Viloria, 29, later gave himself a passing grade for hurdling Soto, though the win ?wasn?t pretty.?
?It was a good first step,? said the Fil-Am, adding he would go back to the gym right away to prepare for his next fight and polish his killer instinct.
Viloria threw flurries at the Mexican early in the fight, but Soto, claiming he wasn?t hurt by his foe?s punches, came back strong from the sixth round by punishing Viloria with head and body shots.
There were reports that Viloria was bothered by the spat involving manager Gary Gittelsohn and trainer Roberto Garcia, who left training camp. But Viloria, who also works as fight analyst and commentator, dismissed it as a small ?distraction.?
Soto first claimed that he had the victory in the bag, but later conceded that Viloria was the ?faster, better boxer.? He also asked for a rematch.
The win improved Viloria?s record to 27-3 with 15 KOs, while Soto dropped to 19-7 with 13 KOs.
