Hawaii's favorite son was in action last night at Blaisdell Centre in Honolulu as Brian Viloria came up with a decision over iron-chinned Mexican challenger Jesus Iribe in a firefight to retain the IBF light flyweight title.

Iribe came into the bout as the reigning WBC fecombox titlist and had gone 12 rounds in a losing cause against top man in the division, Edgar Sosa, but "Azul" from Culiacan was the decided underdog in this title challenge.

Cheered on by a heavily partisan audience, Honolulu born Viloria came out and, as expected, gave the visitor a boxing lesson over the first half of the contest.

Viloria aired out his complete arsenal over the first six rounds in a fine display of skill, but Iribe showed true grit and determination to ride it out.

That got a bit harder to do as Iribe was hurt from huge shots from Viloria in the fifth and six rounds, but the Mexican veteran rolled on.

As Viloria started to tire in the seventh, Iribe came on and began to trade on even terms with the IBF champion over the next two frames.

The tenth saw the biggest action so far as both men were hurt at different times amid the fierce, two-way shelling.

The eleventh saw the pair take a step back to regroup but everything went out the window in the twelfth and final frame as the fighters unleashed all the ammo in an attempt to KO the other.

When the smoke cleared, both men were still on their feet and Viloria retained the IBF belt by scores of 118-112, 117-112 and 117-111.

The "Hawaiian Punch" goes to 26-2 (15) while Iribe drops to 15-6-5 (9) after a valiant effort.

On the undercard, big punching 20 year old Filipino southpaw AJ Banal, 20-1-1 (16), outboxed Mexican campaigner Jose Angel Beranza, 32-15-2 (25), over ten rounds at super bantamweight.

Durable Beranza had stunned Ivan Hernandez in 2006 and Vernie Torres in 2007 before ruining the unblemished records of previously unbeaten prospects Jesus Rojas and Juan Carlos Velasquez over the last nine months but was unable to upset the odds against "Bazooka" Bernal.

Share/Save | (0) comments | Add your comments
Click to read more boxing articles by Richard Eberline

Discuss in Boxing Forum

---

Related Boxing Articles...

• Boxing Result: Tamara Stops Viloria In 12 For IBF Belt

  A routine IBF light flyweight title defense for Brian Viloria turned into something quite different last night at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City, Philippines. The 29 year old from Hawaii had >
  
  

• Boxing Result: Viloria In Shock Upset Loss

  Last night at the Orleans in Las Vegas, WBC Light Flyweight Champion Brian Viloria waited for the perfect punch against challenger Omar Nino Romero but unfortunately for the pint sized >
  
  

• Viloria Scores a KO.

  Last night in the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA, former Olympian and current flyweight contender Brian Viloria demonstrated exactly why he is known as the "Hawaiian Punch" by knocking >
  
  

• Contreras in Coma.

  Following his stoppage loss to Hawaiian prospect Brian Viloria this past weekend, boxer Ruben Contreras suffered serious injuries and now lies in a come, induced by doctors at the California >
  
  

• Boxing Preview: Brian Viloria - Omar Nino Romero

  The pride of Hawaii is in action tonight at the Orleans in Las Vegas as WBC Light flyweight Champion Brian Viloria puts his belt at risk against the bad intentions >
  
  

• Boxing Info: Retired Boxers Foundation Partners with Brian Viloria to Help the Poor

  The Brian Viloria Champs for Youth Fund under the umbrella of the Retired Boxers Foundation The Retired Boxers Foundation is proud to announce a partnership with Brian "The Hawaiian Punch" >
  
  

• Boxing In The Philippines: Donaire, Viloria Win World Title Fights

  On Sunday at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, flyweight Nonito Donaire won his 20th straight bout by defending the IBF and IBO title belts with a fourth round stoppage of >
  
  

• Brian Viloria - The Hawaiian Punch Finally Realizes Potential

  After toiling for over four years as a professional, Brian Viloria finally got a world title opportunity and the "Hawaiian Punch" didn't let the moment go to waste. The 2000 >
  
  

• Boxing In Mexico: Top Rank Puts On Massive Show

  There's a big card on tonight at the Domo De La Feria in Leon, Mexico with Top Rank promoting four high level bouts. While there's only one genuine world title >
  
  

• Boxing In Mexico: Mijares, Arce, Solis, Viloria Win

  There were two very big boxing bills last night south of the border with shows in Gomez Palacio and Auguascalientes. At the Auditorio Centenario in Gomez Palacio, the slick boxing >
  
  

---

Boxing News Tags: AJ Banal, Boxing Results, Brian Viloria, Jesus Iribe, Jose Angel Beranza