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Viloria makes short Those hoping to catch a glimpse of Mike Tyson at last night's fight at the Blaisdell Arena did not leave disappointed.
work of Oviedo
The Waipahu native's left to
the chin KOs his opponent
at the Blaisdell ArenaFight night reeled in Conrad
By Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comNo, the "baddest man on the planet" did not show, but the man his manager called "little Mike Tyson" did.
Brian Viloria, 21, needed only 38 seconds to take care of Sandro Oviedo, trading cursory jabs before tagging Oviedo with a left to the chin, faking a right and upon seeing that Oviedo failed to respond, threw the right. The cross smashed into Oviedo's chin, causing him to fall to the canvas and not get up by the count of 10.
"I landed one real good," Viloria said. "That was a goodnight punch."
Actually, it was two punches. One to take away Oviedo's confidence, the other to end his career.
Oviedo said that it was the hardest he had ever been hit in 41 professional fights, and that he is retiring.
"I put the right hand down and was taking the punch," Oviedo said through interpreter George Rosario.
In the co-main event, Lovemore Ndou had no need to worry about Jun Gorres' punching power -- he never really got hit.
Ndou floored Gorres with seven seconds left in the second round, bobbing to put Gorres in position against the ropes then hitting him with a left hook flush in the kisser. Gorres stayed down until the count of seven, then rose on wobbly legs and started toward Ndou. The referee stopped him however, informing him that his night was over.
The fight signaled that Viloria is ready for much tougher competition than he has been given. The days of bringing him along slowly may be over.
"I think Brian is ready for some serious competition," manager Gary Gittelsohn said. "I'm never disappointed to see Brian knock someone out. However, it makes my job at matchmaking more difficult. When we think Brian is ready for one more step, he shows us he is ready for five more steps."
Gittelsohn is looking into bringing Viloria back to Honolulu in November for an ESPN card, but first he wants to pit Viloria in the WBC Youth Title to be fought June 18 in Del Mar, Calif., on ESPN.
In the other undercard bouts, Urbano Antillon (5-0) got his second pro knockout, flooring Carlos Cisneros (4-1) in the sixth and final scheduled round of a battle of junior welterweights. Antillon dominated most of the fight.
In the night's first bout, former kickboxer Teddy Limoz Jr. of Kalihi took control midway through a four-round exhibition against Jerry Saribay in a welterweight match.
Viloria's U.S. Olympic stablemate Jose Navarro (11-0, 4 KOs) efficiently decisioned Julio Cesar Oyuela (7-5-2). It was nothing fancy, but Navarro showed his ability to deal with an unorthodox fighter.