MANILA, Philippines — Fil-American Brian Viloria believes he is now ready for another world title shot after his seventh-round knockout of Thailand’s Liempetch Sor Veerapol late Friday night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Ranked as the No. 1 contender by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) even before the bout, Viloria and his camp are eyeing a mandatory title match with flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda in early-2011.

After flooring the Thai thrice, Viloria said a third world title is on the horizon.

“I think I'm ready for another shot. It's definitely a big step for me, I just have to work at it. I feel confident with my new team and my manager around,” said Viloria.

Nicknamed “The Hawaiian Punch,” Viloria hiked his record to 28 victories against three defeats. His stoppage of Liempetch was his 15th career knockout win.

Viloria's manager Gary Gittleson said that they're looking at a possible late-February or early-March date with Miranda, who grabbed the vacant title last June via a fifth-round TKO of Filipino Richie Mepranum

“We're planning to have the match sometime within the first quarter of 2011, probably late-February or March we can make that fight happen,” Gittleson said. “We might hold it in Honolulu but we also like to have it here in the Philippines.”

”I think he's on the right path,” said Ruben Gomez, a part of Viloria's new team that includes Mexican trainer Mario Morales.

“We just have to work on some kinks and fix on some issues. He's definitely focused and I think he's on his way to another world championship.”

The former WBC and IBF light flyweight champion and a 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medalist Viloria, wearing a shiny irish green with gold trims, controlled the fight right from the opening bell as he slowly set up the 22-year old Thai with solid rights and combinations through the first four rounds.

In the fifth round, Viloria brought down Liempetch with several body shots in the ropes for the first knockdown of the contest.

This came in-between the time the Thai made two takedowns that resembled a Mixed Martial Arts match, earning him a warning from referee Ferdie Estrella.

In the deciding seventh round, a left uppercut to the jaw brought Liempetch to the canvas. After the Thai raised himself up, he again was tagged with solid combinations that sent him down near the ropes. That forced Estrella to halt the action at two minutes and nine seconds.

“I did some few things I was working on the gym such as my body shots. My combinations I think I need to throw a little bit more but overall I felt pretty good,” said Viloria, who stepped on the scale at 112 lbs during Thursday's official weigh-in.

Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin