BRIAN VILORIA, the Honolulu-born Filipino flyweight, got back on track Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) with an eight-round unanimous decision victory over Cesar Lopez of Texas in the undercard of the Kelly Pavlik-Jermaine Taylor super-middleweight showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Viloria decked Lopez in the fifth round with a right hand and won by scores of 77-74, 78-73 and 78-73.
The win boosted Viloria?s record to 20-2-1 with 12 knockouts, while the loss dropped Lopez?s mark to 20-5 with only four wins inside the distance.
Viloria once held the World Boxing Council light-flyweight crown, having won it in Sept. 2005 with a vicious first-round knockout of Mexican Eric Ortiz at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
He lost the title to Omar Nino Romero in August 2006 after retaining it once versus Jose Antonio Aguirre in February of that same year.
Meanwhile, Pavlik won his rematch against Taylor, persisting until the late rounds when he landed some big punches to claim victory by unanimous decision.
American Pavlik, who won the WBC and WBO middleweight titles against compatriot Taylor in September last year, proved too strong in a non-title bout that was fought at a catchweight in the super middleweight band.
It was the first time Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) had been taken the distance since 2004, but the Ohio fighter threw far more punches and landed more memorable exchanges. Taylor (27-2-1) came up short on all three scorecards despite an improved performance after getting his first career loss in their September bout.
The fight could have gone either way until the 10th round, with both fighters cannily minimizing their opponents? strengths. Pavlik staggered Taylor in the 11th, demonstrating the power that makes him the highest-regarded middleweight in the world.
Judge Dave Moretti favored Pavlik 117-111, while Patricia Morse Jarman had it 115-113 and Glenn Trowbridge scored it 116-112. The Associated Press also scored it narrowly for Pavlik, 115-113.
In other bouts, Mexican Fernando Montiel stopped compatriot Martin Castillo in the fourth round to retain his WBO super flyweight title while Mexican Cristian Mijares retained his WBC super flyweight title with a bloody split decision over American Jose Navarro.
