Sosa smothers Viloria, wins title

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Edgar Sosa of Mexico outboxed Brian Viloria in the rounds that mattered and went on to score a majority decision Saturday and claim the World Boxing Council light-flyweight crown before a cheering crowd at the Alamodome.

Sosa was all over Viloria in the last five rounds of the fight, and was amply rewarded by the judges. Burt Clemens called it 114-114 while Max de Luca and Jesse Reyes both had it 115-113 for the new champion.

Viloria, who was out to regain the title he lost to Omar Niño Romero last year, started strong and proved to be the busier fighter. But in the third round, he took a flurry from the Mexican, and right there and then he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Both boxers traded good punches every now and then, but it was clear that Sosa landed the better ones. At times he sent Viloria back against the ropes, with the pro-Mexican crown egging him on to go for the kill.

But Viloria, who failed to regain the title when he drew with Romero last November in Las Vegas , showed a big fighting heart. Despite the many punches he took, he was never really on the verge of a knockdown, even in the final round. – Abac Cordero