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. More...

SaddoBoxing has the honor of introducing Al Bernstein and his new exclusive column, "Al Bernstein On Boxing"!

In addition, Al authored the book "Boxing For Beginners", has written for The Ring and Boxing Illustrated and held the position of Managing Editor for Lerner Newspapers in Chicago.

We now live in a world where perception is much more powerful than reality. We see it in the political arena where spin doctoring by those in office and bias driven reporting by the media often colors public opinion more than actual facts…if we can still ascertain actual facts in that arena.

In America, many years ago there was a television police drama called Dragnet. In just about every episode the chief investigator Sgt. Joe Friday would interrupt a meandering witness by saying to them, “Just the facts.” Anyone who is truly involved with the sport of boxing, as a fan, a person who covers it, or someone working in the industry, would probably like to scream that Sgt. Friday phrase at the top of their lungs, to try and make some people actually care about the facts. More...

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 previously unbeaten Raul Martinez of America.

Despite having previously won regional titles at as high as bantamweight, Martinez, 24-1 (14), was no match for Donaire, who retained his belts for the third time since shocking Vic Darchinyan almost two years ago.

Speaking of upsets, American Brian Viloria overcame the odds to knock out reigning IBF Light Fly Champion Ulises Solis, who had placed his world title at risk for the ninth time.

Solis, 28-2-2 (20), hadn't lost in nearly five years but had problems with the sheer strength and body attack of Viloria, 25-2 (15), who had previously held the WBC Light Flyweight crown.

In another bout on the bill, minimumweight Denver Cuello, 16-2 (5), captured the vacant WBC International strap with a fourth round stoppage of Hiroshi Matsumoto, 18-10-4 (8).

Friday night in front of a sold out crowd of 1,100 at the Quiet Cannon Country Club in Montebello, CA, flyweight contender Manny Roman overcame a first round knockdown to work toward an eight round unanimous decision win over Jose Luis Cardenas by scores of 77-74 twice and 76-75. More...

The packed Arena Mexico in Mexico City saw a torrent of action last night with four titles being fought over and by the time the smoke cleared, there were two new champions.

Edgar Sosa, 33-5 (17), once again kept hold of his WBC Light Flyweight crown, outboxing hardened Filipino visitor Sonny Boy Jaro, 28-7-5 (17), to post a twelve round unanimous decision via scores of 118-109 and 117-110 twice.

OPBF and Philippine Champion Jaro came to fight but couldn't find the target with his big powershots until the ninth frame when he decked the champion. Sosa beat the count and survived the round as Jaro tried but couldn't improve upon his work.

As expected, the clash between Mexican Bantamweight titlist Francisco Paredes, 16-11-1 (14), and the interim holder of that belt, Ramon Leyte, 18-10 (13), was pure trench warfare but after the twelve rounds were over, Paredes emerged the victor by split decision.

Well-traveled Frenchman Ali Cheba, 27-1 (21), finally hit the wall as the Rouen native lost his WBC Youth Light Welterweight crown to towering local man Reyes Sanchez, 13-2 (8), who finished off Cheba in the seventh. More...

Local Mexico City hero Edgar Sosa, 32-5 (17), puts his WBC Light Flyweight crown on the line tonight at Arena Mexico in the capital city and the 29 year old will be looking to make his fifth defense of the belt he won by posting a majority decision over former US Olympian Brian Viloria in April, 2007.

Sosa is on a hot streak, winning his last 20 contests since mounting a failed bid to unseat Mexican Champion Ulises Solis, the current IBF Light Fly titlist, five years ago.

Challenging Sosa will be Manila based OPBF kingpin, Sonny Boy Jaro, 28-6-5 (17), also the champion of his native Philippines. 26 year old Jaro comes into the title bid riding a streak of three straight victories but has also been stopped in all but one of his losses and that could obviously be a problem against the champion.

A Mexican Bantamweight title bout is the chief support contest as power punching champion Francisco Paredes, 15-11-1 (14), faces southpaw interim titlist, Ramon Leyte, 18-9 (13), over twelve rounds. More...

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 skills of WBC Super Flyweight Champion Cristian Mijares, 35-3-2 (14), won out over the big bombs of WBA Champion Alexander Munoz, 32-3 (27), in a twelve round thriller that went to a split decision.

On the undercard, Flyweight Julio Cesar Miranda, 26-3-1 (19), put the first loss on the resume of prospect Omar Salado, 19-1-2 (11), after producing a fifth round stoppage.

Plaza Monumental in Aguascalientes saw Los Mochis legend Jorge Arce, 49-4-1 (37), win his third straight with a 12 round majority decision over Devid Lookmahhanak, 18-2 (9), for a WBC Super Flyweight title eliminator. More...