BOXING
Viloria on course for title shot after third-round KO
Waipahu's Brian Viloria needed a knockout last night and he took it.
Viloria (22-2, 13 KOs) floored Fred Heberto Valdez (10-18, 5 KOs) with a body shot 2 minutes into the third round in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to move closer to challenging for his second world title.
Viloria, 27, fought outside of the United States for the first time in his career and was pitted against Valdez, a Mexican signed at the last minute, who was fighting in front of his own people.
Viloria didn't give the partisan crowd a chance to influence the judges, pressing the action from the opening bell before ending it with a left to the body.
"The crowd just favored him a lot more, I didn't want it to go to the scorecard," Viloria said. "He was the home favorite here. I didn't want to have to take that chance."
Viloria had not knocked out an opponent since surprising Eric Ortiz in the first round to win the World Boxing Council's light flyweight strap in 2005.
"I wanted that fight," Viloria said. "When the KO presented itself I just took it."