‘Hawaiian Punch’ Brian Viloria beats Jesus Iribe to defend IBF light flyweight title

Viloria retains IBF light flyweight title

HONOLULU — Brian Viloria earned a 12-round, unanimous decision over Jesus Iribe to retain the IBF light flyweight championship on Saturday night.

Viloria, nicknamed “The Hawaiian Punch,” controlled the fast-paced bout in front of his hometown crowd, starting and ending with a flurry of punches. The bigger Iribe broke his right hand in the second round, but the Mexican still slugged it out the entire fight.

The scorecards were 118-110, 117-112, 117-111 in favor of 108-pound Viloria (26-2), who made his first defense since stopping Mexico’s Ulises Solis to win the belt on April 19.

With his seventh straight win, Viloria is seeking a fight against WBO light flyweight champion Ivan Calderon.

The 28-year-old Viloria used his jab and quickness to keep the stronger Iribe at bay.

The fighters traded blows in the middle of the ring in an action-packed final round. Iribe landed a jarring left hook to the body and Viloria came right back with a left-right combination.

At the end of the bout, both fighters raised their arms in victory.

Both fighters had their moments and never really got hurt, but Viloria was the aggressor and had the better of several exchanges.

Viloria’s right hook and combination sent the tough Mexican backpedaling to the ropes halfway through the fight. Viloria came out firing until Iribe started loosening up in the third round with the help of a couple shots to the head.

After taking a left to the body, Viloria answered with a hard hook that bloodied Iribe’s nose late in the 10th round.

Viloria, who grew up about a half-hour drive away in Waipahu, made a grand entrance to the “Hawaii Five-0″ theme, conch shell blowers and an entourage waving the Hawaiian and Philippines flags.

It was the first world title fight in Hawaii since 1976, and Viloria improved to 4-0 in the Aloha State.