Waipahu's Brian Viloria took on a Mexican boxer in Mexico today, so he didn't want to leave anything to chance.

As a result, Viloria scored a third-round knockout victory over Fred Heberto Valdez today on the undercard of the Latin Fury 4 event at Aguascalientes, Mexico.

A left hook by Viloria to Valdez's body ended it, 2 minutes, 10 seconds, into the third round. The 113-pound bout was scheduled for 10 rounds.

"I caught him with a body shot and I could see him going down, trying to catch his breath," Viloria said. "It's a big confidence booster for me."

Viloria improved to 22-2 with his first knockout victory since September 2005. His last six bouts prior to yesterday ended in decisions.

"It felt good," said Viloria, 27. "There was a big crowd, like 70,000 people. They were all cheering for (Valdez) so I didn't want it coming down to a decision."

Valdez dropped to 10-18. He was named as Viloria's opponent earlier in the week.

"They switched opponents on me three times for this card," Viloria said. "But I've been training hard for the last month and a half, so it didn't really matter who they put in front of me."

By the end of the bout, the crowd gave Viloria a standing ovation.

"It was crazy," he said. "I'm just happy I made some fans here."

Viloria improved to 3-0 in 2008, and said he will try to maintain an active schedule in hopes of receiving a world championship bout by the end of the year.

"I feel like I'm getting better and better with each fight," he said. "I really like this schedule. It keeps me active and I feel like it will get me ready for a world title by the end of this year."

Viloria won the WBC light flyweight (108 pounds) championship in 2005, but lost it in 2006. Today was his first bout outside of the United States.