Brian Viloria. AP
Brian Viloria bowed to Ukranian Artem Dalakian via unanimous decision in their battle for the vacant WBA flyweight championship Sunday at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
It was a dominating performance for the Ukranian, with all three judges scoring the bout, 118-109.
Viloria immediately found himself rocked in the first two rounds before recovering late in round two and settling himself in the next three rounds. He would then press on Dalakian in the seventh and eighth rounds, landing solid punches.
That, however, seemed to be his last hurrah as Dalakian connected with a crushing hook to Viloria’s body in the ninth round as he continued to pummel “The Hawaiian Punch.”
Viloria was also bloodied in the 11th round after taking an inadvertent elbow to the forehead.
Dalakian (16-0, 11 KOs) remained unbeaten and won the flyweight title vacated by Japanese Kazuto Ioka while Viloria (38-6, 23 KOs) saw his winning streak cut short at two.