Viloria Barely Manages to Hold Off Russian

Defending world champion Brian Viloria of the United States built a 6-1 lead after two rounds, then held on for an 8-6 victory over European champion Sergei Kazakov of Russia in a first-round bout at 106 pounds Sunday.

The 5-foot-4 Viloria, about four inches shorter than Kazakov, chose to box rather than fight inside, and it paid off for two rounds. Then the taller Kazakov became more aggressive and found the range with his left, whittling Viloria’s lead down to 7-4 at the end of three rounds.

“I thought I was blocking his punches,” said Viloria, a 19-year-old from Hawaii. “Defense played a big role. He’s a real good boxer. I didn’t get busy in the last round.”

In today’s bouts, Ricardo Rocky Juarez of Houston stopped Iran’s Bijan Batmani in the third round on the 15-point rule (15-0).

Jeff Lacy, of St. Petersburg, Fla., also won on the 15-point rule (17-2) in the third round after hurting Cleiton Conceicao of Brazil with hard shots to the head and body and making him take two standing eight-counts.

In news outside the ring, Iran’s Anosheravan Nourian was thrown out of the Olympics for failing a drug test. The International Amateur Boxing Assn. said the light-welterweight tested positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition dope test.