In many ways it seems like just yesterday that Brian Viloria embarked on his professional career. At the time the Hawaiian native had some serious buzz behind him after compiling an amateur record of 230 wins against eight losses while also winning Gold multiple times at the National Junior Olympics and claiming the 1999 USA Fighter of the Year, To say that Viloria?s career has been unfulfilling would be wrong, as he did indeed find the strength within him to capture three world title belts, the most recent being the WBO flyweight title after a gutty victory over Julio Cesar Miranda two weekends ago in Honolulu. But in compiling his 29-3 (16) record that he now holds, Viloria suffered some rough losses along the way that may have broken a lesser fighter and certainly left him with some detractors trying to point out his flaws instead of appreciating his accomplishments.
Such defeats included an upset decision loss to Omar Nino Romero at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in August of 2006, a majority decision loss to Edgar Sosa two fights later in San Antonio, and most recently a humbling final-round TKO defeat at the hands of Carlos Tamara in the Philippines in early 2010. The Tamara loss was especially hard to deal with as Viloria had the lead heading into the 12th round but simply was gassed out and stopped as he surrendered his IBF light flyweight crown to the determined Columbian.
So, as he headed into his bout with Miranda on July 16th, a lot was on the line and Viloria went into the contest with the mindset of a seasoned professional set on making the most out of his abilities. Seeing things far differently now as a 30-year old veteran with ten years of experience under his belt, you can tell by talking to Viloria just how much he has learned while in the sport of boxing and how much he realizes that every moment at this point in his career is extremely precious.
I caught up with Viloria recently to get his take on all of the trials he has been through as a professional and the lessons he has learned along the way. Viloria also spoke of the resiliency he had to muster in coming back from his previous defeats and how it feels to be a champion again. A fight with junior flyweight champion Giovanni Segura has been creating some interest and Viloria answered the Mexican?s wishes during our discussion.
In his own words, this is what ?The Hawaiian Punch? had to say?
A sense of fulfillment? ?Just a sense of accomplishing something that I was up for since the beginning of this year. It?s very fulfilling to win a world title. Whenever you go into a fight and you come out with a victory, you just have a sense of achievement. And I felt great when they told me that I was the victor in the fight on Saturday.?
Everything coming together against Julio Cesar Mirdanda? ?I think it was just the game plan. Using my strengths, my speed. Everything came together in that fight. Just going out there and not getting overanxious or overconfident in certain areas, just sticking to my plan and what we set out to do in training. Everything came together on Saturday and it was perfect; it helped me get the win.?
Changes over the years? ?Confidence and a lot of experience. The confidence that I have when I step into the ring is a lot more than when I first turned pro. Just a sense of knowing what to do, how to pace yourself, not getting too anxious and not getting too excited over certain things. And not finding myself in trouble during certain times. The experience that I have has made me more of a confident fighter.?
