Viloria KOs Baas in 11th

By Steve Rivera
Tucson Citizen

Waipahu's Brian Viloria connects against Mexico's Gilberto Keb Baas in Tucson, Ariz. Photos by Francisco Medina • Tucson Citizen

"I tried to make him respect my power early,'' said Viloria, a 2000 Olympian from Waipahu.

But it was Viloria's late-fight power that eventually got to Keb Baas, hitting him with a strong left hook to just right of the midsection that sent Keb Baas to the canvas for an 11th-round knockout in front of an estimated 1,500 fans at Desert Diamond Casino and a national ESPN2 audience.

Viloria retained his NABF flyweight (112 pounds) title.

Viloria, who said he's a better body blow fighter, went to that strategy in the later rounds.

"His body felt just wide open," said Viloria, who improved to 15-0 with nine knockouts. "I went to the body. I got the punch down. When I got him I saw his face cringe. I knew he'd go down. I had seen him hurt in the eighth or ninth rounds.''

There was a reason. Between Viloria's constant blows to the body and Keb Baas trying to attack Viloria, Keb Baas said he injured himself in his mid-section. It hurt so badly, Keb Baas' corner placed ice in his shorts to help with the pain. But early in the round the ice fell out the bottom of his shorts, with the referee calling time twice to pick it up.

"I was already feeling something bothering me three rounds earlier," said Keb Baas (22-11-1) of Hunucma, Mexico. "When I got hit, I tried to resist (the pain), but couldn't."

Brian Viloria celebrates his 11th-round knockout.

"I just felt grateful that it was over," Viloria said of his post-fight jubilation, one that included his usual Hawaiian hula dance on the ropes. "I knew it was going to go all night so I just felt happy.''

Happy because Keb Baas, who was attempting to avenge his brother Juan Alfonso's defeat three months ago to Viloria, proved to be tougher and more durable than his brother who told Gilberto to be aggressive and he'd have a chance.

"His brother kept running away from me; he was on his bike a lot,'' Viloria said. "But (Gilberto) came towards me. He came to fight. But I expected that. I knew he'd come in and be strong."

Although Viloria wasn't hurt, Keb Baas pressed the issue numerous times in the early rounds — winning rounds two and three in at least two judges' eyes.

But from the seventh round on, Viloria started to be more aggressive, going to the body more often.

"Brian was laying on the ropes a little too much," Viloria's manager Freddie Roach said of his fighter's middle rounds. "He was moving on a straight line back. That's something we need to work on a little more. The angles."

Going into the final two rounds, Keb Baas said he felt the fight was even, while Viloria said "it was pretty close."

So close, Roach said that he told Viloria that he needed to win the last two rounds if he wanted to win.

"I felt that," Roach said. "He (Keb Baas) was stealing a lot of rounds late. He's a veteran. He knew what he was up to."