By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

The problem with being billed as a so-called "knockout artist" is that people expect you to knock out your opponents all the time.

Welcome to Brian Viloria's world, a place where even a 10-0 flyweight record sometimes doesn't seem like enough when the number of knockouts don't keep pace.

Heading into tomorrow's United States Boxing Association title bout in Connecticut against Alejandro Moreno on ESPN2, Viloria has a very respectable percentage of KOs — 6 in 10 bouts — but more frustration than knockouts to show for it recently.

And therein lies the challenge for the former Olympian: getting back in the groove without getting too caught up in all the numbers.

Not since June 18, when he turned out the lights on Francisco Soto in the fifth round, has Viloria been able to send a crowd home early on his terms. After six knockouts in his first eight professional fights, Viloria's last three adventures in the ring, two decisions and a no-contest, have ended without a knockout and with growing frustration as he has sometimes tried to do too much too soon.

One of them, the no-contest in July, came after his opponent, Alberto Rossel, who was on the verge of going down, sustained a head butt injury and couldn't continue. Then, there was the Tour de New York, aka the 12-round decision over an opponent, Javier Lagos, who made like a cyclist for 12 yawn-inducing rounds.

The last time out, just before Thanksgiving, Viloria got Rossel back in the ring but not for the result he had wanted in a sloppy 12-round majority decision. Even Viloria's camp described the effort as "lackluster" and "disappointing" after the Waipahu fighter went away from his arsenal of jabs and combinations for an unproductive head-hunting expedition.

The task these last several weeks, his corner says, has been recapturing the earlier focus. "If he just concerns himself with doing the things he has to do to win the fight, working on his jabs, body shots and combinations, then the knockouts will come," insists Gary Gittelsohn, Viloria's manager. "He can't get caught up in all the hype or to put a lot of pressure on himself. He doesn't need that."

For the first year of his pro career, just being himself was good enough for Viloria. It should be plenty now, too.