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ASSOCIATED PRESS
WBO flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda, of Mexico, gets knocked down by challenger Brian Viloria, of Waipahu, HI, during the first round of the title fight, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kuulei Kupihea, of Honolulu, left, throws a barrage of punches at Tiffany Junot, of New Orleans, in an undercard boxing match, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM
Brian Viloria landed a right hook against Julio Cesar Miranda during their WBO flyweight title bout Saturday night at the Blaisdell Arena.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denver Cuello, of the Philippines, right, take a punch from Omar Soto, of Puerto Rico, during the first round in an undercard boxing match, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. Cuello stopped Soto in the second round. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM
Waipahu's Brian Viloria celebrated after beating Julio Cesar Miranda by unanimous decision for the WBO flyweight title Saturday night.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brian Viloria, of Waipahu, HI, is declared the new WBO flyweight champion after defeating Julio Cesar Miranda, of Mexico, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brian Viloria, of Waipahu, HI, celebrates after winning the WBO flyweight title after defeating Julio Cesar Miranda, of Mexico, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brian Viloria, of Waipahu, Hawaii, left, lands a punch against WBO flyweight title holder Julio Cesar Miranda, of Mexico, in the 8th round Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. Viloria defeated Miranda after 12 rounds. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kuulei Kupihea, of Honolulu, left, lands a punch on the chin of Tiffany Junot, of New Orleans, in an undercard boxing match, Saturday, July 16, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
Brian Viloria captured his third world championship by winning a unanimous decision over Julio Cesar Miranda of Mexico tonight at Blaisdell Arena.
The Waipahu product scored a knockdown in the first round, survived Miranda’s assault and added the World Boxing Organization flyweight title to his resume while improving to 29-3.
The decision thrilled the crowd in Viloria’s first appearance at Blaisdell Arena since Aug. 29, 2009, when he defeated Jesus Iribe in a defense of his IBF light flyweight title.
Miranda (32-6-1) had successfully defended the title three times prior to facing Viloria, all of those defenses coming in Mexico. He struggled to get down to 112 pounds at Friday’s weigh in, dropping two pounds in 3 hours to make the limit. Although he appeared hurt at various points, Miranda (32-6-1) weathered some hard shots from Viloria to send the fight to the judges with the outcome still in doubt.
Judge Robert Hoyle scored it 117-110, Ruben Garcia had it 114-113 and Tamotsu Tomihara had it 115-113.
Viloria sent Miranda to the canvas with a solid right hook 1:04 into the first round.
Miranda controlled the early moments of the second round, but Viloria later battled back with hard shots to Miranda’s body.
After slugging with Miranda for much of the next two rounds, Viloria spent most of the fifth on the move, scoring with jabs from the outside.
Viloria ended the sixth by pinning Miranda against the ropes and landed a left to the head just before the bell. Another body shot knocked Miranda into the ropes early in the seventh and Viloria connected on several combinations that appeared to have Miranda in trouble.
But Miranda battled back and Viloria showed some swelling above the right eye in the eighth.
Viloria excited the crowd by landing three solid rights in the ninth, but Miranda kept coming and both survived the 12th to send the decision to the judges with Viloria, bloodied but standing, winning on all three cards.
Undercard:
128: Michael Farenas (31-3-3, 26 KOs) vs. Fernando Beltran (35-5-1, 19 KOs)
-Farenas holds on for the decision win. The scores were read 78-74, 76-80 and 78-75 which would mean a split decision. We’ll have to check on those scores. Farenas definitely won the first three rounds before Beltran started to find his rhythm. Would have been interesting if the fight went a couple more rounds.
108: Denver Cuello (26-4-6, 16 KOs) vs. Omar Soto (15-7-1, 6 KOs)
Cuello def. Soto by TKO (referee stoppage) at 0:56 of Round 2.
-Cuello scored a knockdown 40 seconds into the fight and was credited with another in the first round. He should have had about four, but at least two that were legit knockdowns were ruled slips. Cuello finishes the fight in the second round when the referee stops the fight 56 seconds into the round.
149: Michael Balasi (9-1, 7 KOs) vs. Van Oscar Penovaroff (6-0-1, 4 KOs)
-Kalihi’s Balasi wins a majority decision (57-57, 58-57, 59-56) in an entertaining fight with both fighters trading power punches. Crowd came alive in the final round as the two traded power shots to end. Balasi had a little more energy in the final seconds of the fight. First professional loss for Kona’s Penovaroff.
145 (welterweight): Kuu’lei Kupihea (6-1, 2 KOs) vs. Tiffany Junot (9-2-1, 6 KOs)
-Honolulu’s Kupihea, now living in Kapolei, earns a unanimous decision win (60-54, 60-54, 60-55) over Junot to open the event.
