Brian Viloria’s Flyweight Unification Delivered His
Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria unified the WBO and WBA flyweight championships on November 17, 2012, stopping Hernán Márquez in the tenth round in Los Angeles. The result crowned a professional career that had already produced world titles at light flyweight.
Career highlights
Viloria entered the professional ranks after representing the United States at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His amateur achievements included the 1999 world championship, U.S. championship and National Golden Gloves title. He made his professional debut in May 2001.
He held the WBC light flyweight championship in 2005–2006 and the IBF belt in 2009–2010. Moving to flyweight, he defeated Julio César Miranda by unanimous decision in Honolulu to win the WBO championship in 2011.
Unification and the final title challenge
Against Márquez, Viloria scored knockdowns in the first, fifth and tenth rounds before securing the stoppage. The win added Márquez’s WBA title to his WBO belt. Viloria continued fighting through 2018, when Artem Dalakian defeated him by unanimous decision for the vacant WBA flyweight championship. His career record finished at 38 wins and six defeats.
Born in Honolulu on November 24, 1980, Viloria attended Northern Michigan University while competing as an amateur. He finished that phase with 230 wins and eight defeats. His first professional opponent was Benjamin Esobia, and he recorded seventeen wins and one no contest in his opening eighteen professional contests before later championship successes.
Sources
- Olympedia: Viloria’s amateur background and professional career
- World Boxing Organization: Viloria wins the WBO flyweight title
- World Boxing Organization: official Viloria–Márquez result
