LAS VEGAS — Brian Viloria made it clear that he's poised to become a big star in one of boxing's tiniest weight classes.

Viloria, the 108-pound champion from Waipahu, defended his World Boxing Council light flyweight title with a 12-round win by unanimous decision against Jose Antonio Aguirre last night at the Aladdin Resort and Casino.

The win set up some attractive possible matches for Viloria against his fellow champions in the lighter weight divisions, such as Ivan Calderon or Jorge Arce.

"It was a tough, tough fight," Viloria said after winning by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 117-111 on the judges' scorecards. "Aguirre came to fight. He came to take my title away, but I was able to prove I deserve to keep it."

Viloria improved to 19-0 (12 knockouts) and held on to the WBC belt he won in September with a first-round stoppage of Eric Ortiz in Los Angeles.

Aguirre (33-5-1, 20 KOs), of Tabasco, Mexico, was game in the early rounds, but Viloria took control down the stretch, working behind his jab to land repeated crisp combinations to the challenger's face and head.

A former 105-pound world champion who has now lost three consecutive fights, Aguirre, 30, fought the final three rounds with blood streaming from his nostrils and spattering his white trunks, a result of the damage Viloria was inflicting.

"He's a tough cat," Viloria, 25, said. "I hurt him a couple of times, but not as much as I would have liked. All that hard work, all that training I did in preparation for the fight allowed me to deny him.

"It was a great learning experience."

Bob Arum, Viloria's promoter, said he hopes to match Viloria against Arce in the fall in what would be a clash of two of the most entertaining and exciting fighters in the sport.

Arce, who was watching from ringside last night, fights Rosendo Alvarez in a flyweight title bout April 8.

Arum said he would also like to put Viloria on the undercard of a June 10 show in New York featuring junior welterweight Miguel Cotto in the main event.

But the dream matchup, the big-money matchup, is Arce and Viloria, Arum said.