Waipahu's Brian Viloria walked out of the Blaisdell Center Arena last night with his IBF world championship belt, his health, and the admiration of thousands of boxing fans in Hawai'i.

The only thing he missed on his checklist was a knockout of Mexico's Jesus Iribe.

Viloria successfully defended his IBF light flyweight world title with a unanimous decision over Iribe in the main event of the "Island Assault" boxing card.

A crowd of around 3,000 watched Viloria improve to 26-2, including 4-0 in Hawai'i.

Iribe, who was ranked No. 15 by the IBF, dropped to 15-6-5.

"Jesus came to fight, man," Viloria said. "I told you guys from the start he was no walkover. He brought his A game. Luckily, I brought my A game and we got to put on a great show."

The bout was action packed for all 12 rounds, with Viloria providing most of the punches.

The three judges scored it 118-110, 117-112 and 117-111. In essence, Viloria won nine of the 12 rounds.

Viloria was aggressive from the outset. He landed several combinations throughout the bout, but was never able to knock down the rugged Mexican.

Iribe was a quarter-pound over the 108-pound weight limit at the official weigh-in on Friday, and Viloria said Iribe "felt like he was a natural 125-pounder in there."

"He felt a little bigger, so he was able to take some of my combinations," Viloria said. "I tried to go down to the body, but he blocked it real well."

Viloria dominated the first six rounds of the fight, but Iribe said he had a reason for his slow start. Iribe apparently injured his right hand in the second round. He said it was broken, and was scheduled to get an official diagnosis late last night.

In any case, Iribe was able to rally in the late rounds with an effective jab that kept the quicker Viloria at a distance.

"He made his adjustments in the later rounds, and he gave me a little bit of a different look in there," Viloria said. "He was able to make it a little harder than usual."

In the 12th round, both fighters came out swinging, much to the delight of the crowd. Viloria was aware that he was ahead on points, but said he "owed it to the crowd" to try for the knockout.

"I think I could have gone three or four more (rounds)," he said. "That's why I came out in the 12th round like that. I thought I owed it to the crowd to give a little bit of a great show, Rocky-like."

Robert Garcia, Viloria's head trainer at the La Colonia Boxing Club in Oxnard, Calif., said Viloria showed improvement from his last bout, despite not registering a knockout.

"What I seen tonight was a Brian that came out in the 12th round stronger than in the first round and that was a big improvement right there," Garcia said.

Viloria won the IBF world title in April with an 11th-round knockout of Mexico's Ulises Solis, and last night was his first defense.

It was also the first world boxing championship bout staged in Hawai'i since 1976, when Ben Villaflor put his WBA super featherweight title on the line.

Prior to the bout, Viloria was led to the ring by a line of hula dancers and supporters carrying both the Hawaiian and Philippines flags. His entry music was Hawaii Five-O.

Iribe's team said they would like a rematch because of the hand injury, but Viloria's team is looking at something bigger, like a title unification bout with WBO light flyweight champion Ivan Calderon of Puerto Rico. Calderon is scheduled to defend his title against Rodel Mayol in two weeks.

"I'll invite him right now — the winner of the Calderon-Mayol fight is welcome to come back and we'll hold a unification fight right here," Viloria's manager Gary Gittelsohn said.

Viloria received $50,000 for the bout. Iribe received $10,000.

In the undercard bouts: