The only vision Waipahu boxer Brian Viloria has in his head right now is of a world championship.

For a while, there were other visions — scary visions — but he said that is behind him now.

Viloria will get a long-awaited world title shot tomorrow when he takes on Mexico's Eric Ortiz in a bout scheduled for 12 rounds at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

At stake is Ortiz's World Boxing Council light-flyweight (108 pounds) championship.

Viloria is 17-0 with 11 knockouts. Ortiz is 24-4-1 with 16 knockouts, and this is his first title defense since winning the belt in March with a seventh-round technical knockout of Jose Antonio Aguirre.

Online oddsmakers have Viloria listed as a slight favorite.

"This is basically what all my training, and all my other fights have been for," said Viloria, 24. "This is my shot."

His shot comes less than four months after he took a psychological blow of his own.

Viloria's last bout resulted in a sixth-round technical knockout victory over Ruben Contreras. Moments after the fight, Contreras was rushed to a hospital and was in a medically induced coma for several weeks.

"Brian knows that he was not responsible for Ruben's condition," Viloria manager Gary Gittelsohn said. "But Brian is one of the kindest human beings I know, so of course, it affected him."

Contreras has since recovered and will serve as Viloria's inspiration tomorrow.

At Viloria's invitation, Contreras and his family will be seated at ringside. The Viloria-Contreras bout also took place at the Staples Center.

"I'm dedicating the fight to him," Viloria said. "I was really scared for a little while and I prayed a lot for him. I thank God everything went right for him, and the way he fought through it and recovered means a lot to me."

Viloria said he was able to fully concentrate on Ortiz once Contreras' condition started to improve around two months ago.

"I've been training really hard for this, probably a lot harder than I ever have," said Viloria, a Waipahu High graduate who trains out of Los Angeles.

At the Wild Card Gym, Viloria said he has been sparring with several heavier opponents in preparation for Ortiz.

"Some of the guys are as heavy as 125," Viloria said. "I just wanted to fight stronger guys so that I'm prepared for anything."

Viloria normally fights at 112 pounds, so he is actually dropping a weight class to fight Ortiz.

Gittelsohn said Ortiz is better than any 112-pounder Viloria has faced.

"The guy is a world champion for a reason," Gittelsohn said of Ortiz. "He is extremely durable. I have not seen him in a fight where he moves backwards. He's always moving forward, applying the pressure."

The bout was originally scheduled for July 30 in Las Vegas, but that card was canceled when one of the main event fighters got injured.

"I don't think it's anybody's advantage that it got pushed back," Viloria said. "But I like that it's in Los Angeles now. I can train at my own gym, sleep in my own bed. It just feels more comfortable not having to travel."

NOTES

The Viloria-Ortiz bout will be followed by two co-main event fights. Manny Pacquiao will take on Hector Velazquez, and then Erik Morales will face Zahir Raheem. The co-main events will be televised live on HBO, but Viloria's bout is not scheduled to air. However, Gittelsohn said the network might show highlights of Viloria's bout if time permits.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.