By Ryan Songalia

On December 12, Brian Viloria closed out the year with a second round knockout of Benjamin Garcia. The victory served as the punctuation to a 2008 that saw Viloria fight five times, all successfully, with two of the wins coming the fast way.

Though Viloria didn't gain any title belts this year, he ended a three fight winless streak dating back to 2006. After winning the WBC light flyweight title in explosive fashion in 2005 and making one succesful defense, Viloria unexpectedly lost to Omar Nino Romero by decision less than a year later.

In a rematch, Viloria dropped Romero twice but was held to a draw. The verdict was changed to a no decision when Romero tested positive for methamphetamines. In an effort to regain the vacated belt, Viloria was upset on points by Edgar Sosa in his only fight of 2007.

"2008 was crucial for me," Viloria, 24-2 (14 KO), tells BoxingScene.com. "It got me back in the mentality of a world caliber fighter. It gave me a chance to get comfortable again in the ring. Even though it wasn't with higher caliber opponents, it was a chance for me to get my confidence back up.

"I'm back to being the old Brian."

The style that brought Viloria to the world title and a berth on the 2000 US Olympic boxing team was that of a pressure fighter. Under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, Viloria says that he strayed from that philosophy and began to focus on counterpunching, which clashed with his instinct to bang.

So last December, Viloria amicably split with Roach over dinner and began his search for new guidance.

"At the point that I left Wild Card Gym, I wanted a change of scenery. At that time Freddie had a lot more of a burden on his shoulders with Manny [Pacquiao] and Oscar de la Hoya. He had 18 world champions at that time and I needed more one on one time."

Viloria now trains with former IBF super featherweight champion Roberto Garcia in Oxnard, CA. Although his name is not mentioned on the short list of top trainers in the sport, Garcia currently guides the careers of former 122 and 130 pound champ Joan Guzman, as well as WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano. Roberto's father, Eduardo Garcia, was the original trainer of Fernando Vargas.

With his rebuilding period behind him, the moment of truth for Viloria lies ahead on March 15 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines.

The fight will be Viloria's first professional appearance in his country of descent.

Viloria's opponent, IBF light flyweight champion Ulises Solis, has earned a reputation for turning back Filipino contenders. Of Solis' eight successful defenses, three have come against Filipino challengers named Glenn Donaire, Bert Batawang and Rodel Mayol.

"I've seen a lot of his fights," Viloria says of Solis. "He has a great jab. He's a great defensive fighter but I don't think he can stand in there with a guy with my style. I've seen the way to beat him and I've trained for that type of style. Just bring it to him and I'm world champion again."

Initially, the Solis fight was supposed to take place on December 12 in Macau, China, but financial roadblocks prevented the show from going forward.

IBF flyweight champion Nonito Donaire, whom Viloria bested in the 2000 Olympic trial finals, will challenge WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel in the co-featured bout.

Despite the amateur pedigree and proven knockout power of Viloria, Filipinos have not fully accepted Viloria as one of their champions the way they have home-grown heroes Manny Pacquiao and to a lesser extent Gerry Penalosa. Perhaps it's due to his ambiguous background; he enters the ring to the Hawaii Five-O theme song, is known as "The Hawaiian Punch" yet drapes himself with the Filipino flag after fights.

Viloria is hardly the first boxer of Filipino ancestry to take up residence in Hawaii. Jesus Salud and Andrew Ganigan, both of Filipino descent, were also based in Hawaii and even went by the "Hawaiian Punch" monicker.

A win against Solis would considerably boost his popularity in the Philippines.

"I don't think you can deny it," Viloria says.

"I've heard of his reputation of being a Filipino destroyer. I'm looking forward to changing that in March. It motivates me a lot more."

"As far as being Filipino, I don't know why people are confused about that. I was born in Hawaii, I was influenced by the Hawaiian culture. But my parents are from the Philippines and there is a big concentration of Filipinos coming out of Hawaii.

Viloria says he isn't worried about nationalism once he gets in the ring; his primary concern is becoming world champion once again.

"It doesn't matter if he's Filipino or Mexican, he's just a person with a world title. I'd like people to look at me not only as a Filipino fighter but as a great fighter, period. I want to leave this profession with that respect."

Should Viloria unseat Solis, the world will once again be his. A rematch with Sosa or a clash with WBO light flyweight champ Ivan Calderon have their own appeals at 108 pounds. Or perhaps a move up to 112, where Japan's Koki Kameda, WBA champ Takefumi Sakata and WBC champ Daisuke Naito present interesting challenges. Viloria even entertains a move up to 115.

"Wherever the money takes me," he says.

Still, Viloria acknowledges that all is contingent upon a successful outcome in March.

"I'm going to take it one step at a time. I can't look past Solis."

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at songaliaboxing@aol.com.