Viloria scores KO
in seventh

The Waipahu flyweight says he is
"back on track" after a win in
his first fight in six months

Before last night, the flyweight champions of the world may have had Brian Viloria right where they wanted him.

After six months of inactivity and two last-minute cancellations, Viloria was considering another line of work. But a pair of body punches has the flyweight from Waipahu excited about his future in the fight game.

"I have been training hard for this fight, it was months and months of disappointment that had me rethinking my future in the sport," Viloria said. "But I am back on track now."

Viloria moved one step away from a world title fight after destroying Angel Priolo last night at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The fight was televised on HBO Latino, but was not available in Hawaii.

Viloria, 24, knocked out Priolo (30-2, 20 KOs) with two body shots in the seventh round of a scheduled 12-round fight. Priolo made it to his feet by the count of eight, but shook his head to call it quits 54 seconds into the round. Viloria improved to 16-0 with his 10th knockout and may be in line to fight World Boxing Council champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand. Viloria, who is ranked No. 2 by the WBC, was ordered to meet top contender Luis Maldonado for the right to fight for the title, but an agreement could not be reached between the fighters.

Instead, Viloria may have jumped over the Mexican with his performance last night.

"They can't sit and hope he loses now," Team Viloria manager Gary Gittelsohn said. "I think Brian's performance was so good it would be hard for the WBC to deny Brian a shot."

Viloria was on his way to a win against the tough veteran after losing a few early rounds but wearing the Colombian down in the middle rounds. Viloria floored Priolo with a head shot in the second, and two judges had him ahead 58-55 and 57-56, with the third judge scoring it 57-56 for Priolo.

"I knew he was hurt when I hit him with a couple of body shots in the sixth and he froze up and I could hear him breathing kind of weird," Viloria said.

Viloria had his own problems though, as his corner worked to close a cut over his left eye that blurred his vision. That told Viloria to end the fight as soon as he could.

"Freddie (Roach, Viloria's trainer) told me, 'Don't worry about it, (Priolo) doesn't know (about the blurred vision),' " Viloria said. "That sparked me a little bit and the guy was tough, so I wanted to finish it."

Both fighters took the fight on two days' notice when Fernando Montiel, who is also managed by Gittelsohn, withdrew from the card because of an illness. Viloria says he had no choice whether to take it, and Gittelsohn says he would have never put Viloria in against Priolo in a perfect world. But the Olympian wanted to answer the nagging question of whether the fight game was worth all of the training.

"When Gary told me about the fight, a main event on HBO, I had to jump on it and see what I had," Viloria said. "It is so awesome to see everyone in the locker room and in the crowd so excited."

Gittelsohn went to work entertaining HBO executives as soon as Viloria scored the win, which earned his fighter the WBC Latino championship to go with his North American Boxing Federation belt, and expects the world title fight Viloria has been chasing to be next on the card.

Viloria was handed a routine 60-day suspension after the fight to heal his eye, but expects to be back in the ring shortly after it is lifted. He will learn today whether the cut will require stitches or be allowed to heal on its own.

"There isn't going to be the kinds of droughts we have had in the past," Gittelsohn said. "Brian is the real deal and we are looking directly at a world title."

Darchinyan takes title: The International Boxing Federation title changed hands earlier yesterday when Vic Darchinyan knocked out Irene Pacheco at Hollywood, Fla.

Pacheco had defended the title seven times and held it since 1999, and had an offer on the table to give Viloria a shot at his title pending the outcome of last night's fights. Viloria sparred with Darchinyan last month in preparation for a fight that fell through.

The other world champions in the flyweight division are Lorenzo Parra of the World Boxing Association and Omar Narvaez of the World Boxing Organization.

Viloria is ranked No. 12 by the IBF, but Priolo was ranked No. 8. Gittelsohn says that Viloria's first loyalty is to the WBC.