Matthew Hurley: Brian Viloria, 20-2 with 12 KOs ended a three fight winless streak by beating Jose Garcia Bernal, 27-10-1 with 18 KOs over eight rounds at the Alameda Swap Meet in Los Angeles. Viloria won a unanimous decision under the training auspices of Robert and Eduardo Garcia. The fight represented Viloria’s fourth change in trainers, often a sign of a lack of focus and a fighter’s desperate search for answers, but Viloria understands that 2008 is a make or break year for him and believes that he has found the right fit for what could be his last run for a title shot..
“I give myself an A-/B+,” he told the Star Bulletin. “There are a lot of improvements that I need to make for next time. I know I need to use my stock of weapons that I have. Tonight, I kept going to the body and throwing jabs, and it worked well for me. I’m going to the gym to work on those things and come back into this year with a better groove.”
Viloria was quick to add that he understands and appreciates how far he has fallen from the pinnacle of his WBC light flyweight title winning effort over Jose Antonio Aguire.
“Fighting in a tent under the pouring rain when I have fought under the lights of Las Vegas and the Staples Center in Los Angeles was a very humbling experience for me, but this gets me grounded and back to the purity of the sport. I am working my way to another title shot.”
The fight was Viloria’s first at 115 pounds.
On the same bill Michele Rosales stopped Dairo Esales in the second round of a scheduled twelve round bout. The fight was supposed to be contested for Rosales’ WBC Continental Americas super lightweight title. Rosales weighed 2 ¾ pounds over the 140-pound limit and was stripped of the belt. Rosales improved to 19-1 while Esales fell to 31-11.
In other boxing results, super featherweight contender Yusuke Kobori, 22-2-1 with 11 KOs won a close unanimous decision over Hiroyasu Matsuzaki, 17-2 with 8 KOs in Tokyo.
On ESPN’s Friday Night Fights (FNF) lightweight Zahir Raheem, 29-2 with 17 KOs knocked out Ricardo Dominguez, 23-3-2 with 15 KOs at 78 seconds of the first round.
Carson Jones, 13-5-1 with 1 KO won a six round majority decision over Jose Gonzalez, 11-2 with 9 KOs.
In the FNF main event Allen Green, 26-1 with 18 KOs won a ten round unanimous decision over Rubin Williams, 29-2-1 with 16 KOs.