PASAY CITY -- Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria is now in stable condition after being rushed to a hospital in Manila Saturday following his loss to Colombian challenger Carlos “El Olimpico” Tamara.
The Filipino boxer collapsed due to apparent exhaustion soon after his technical knockout (TKO) defeat by Tamara in Saturday’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight title fight at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Referee Bruce McTavish stopped the fight at 1:45 into the 12th and final round.
Soon after the bout ended, Viloria was taken from his locker room and rushed to a local hospital in an ambulance. His camp did not immediately give details of what happened inside the room after the fight.
Viloria was later transferred to the Makati Medical Center for more tests, including a brain scan, said Nasser Cruz, head of the boxing division of the Philippine Games and Amusement Board.
A television report late Saturday, however, said Viloria is now conscious and in stable condition after undergoing a CT scan at the Makati hospital.
“He's barely conscious. He's good. He's stable,” said attending neurologist Regina Macalintal.
She said Viloria will have to stay by one or two more days before being discharged, adding that he did not need any surgery and a minor cut to his brow.
An earlier radio report, meanwhile, said the deposed champion was conscious and seen talking to his nurse-girlfriend Erika Navarro while being transferred to Makati Medical Center.
"It appears all the results were favorable… In my view, he was very exhausted… He had no knockdowns. He just got really tired," Cruz said.
"Even if you are conscious, as long as you had a difficult fight — he delivered a lot of punches and he also received many hits — it's just a regular thing to undergo a check up," he added.
Boxing analyst Ronnie Nathaniels, for his part, told dzBB radio that he spoke at the emergency room with Viloria, who complained of a "severe headache."
The emergency room doctor who attended to Viloria at the first hospital, Dr. Ernesto Gonzales, said Viloria was taken to the first hospital because he "felt weak" but was conscious when he arrived on a stretcher.
"All I can say is he was stable from the time he arrived until he left," Gonzales said.
Asked by reporters how Viloria was doing, his trainer, Robert Garcia, said, "He's fine."
But due to his condition, the Hawaiian Punch was a no-show during the post-fight press conference. He suffered a three-centimeter cut on his left eyebrow and bruises after surrendering the title to Tamara in the main event of "Boxing at the Bay: Collision Course.”
Before the fight was stopped, the 29-year-old Filipino-American from Waipahu, Hawaii was ahead in two of the judges’ scorecards, 105-104, and, 106-103, while Tamara was ahead in the third, 105-104.
Tamara’s face was already weak after the second round and Viloria kept on punishing his 26-year-old opponent with vicious punch combinations to the head and body in the next four rounds.
However, as the rounds went on, Viloria got weaker while Tamara got stronger even after he absorbed a lot of beating from the 28-year-old Fil-American fighter.
In the 10th round, Tamara started to pressure Viloria and bombarded him with a stunning array of punches to the head and almost knocked out the weakened Viloria.
Seeing that his opponent was out of gas in the final round, Tamara continued to pressure and landed a handful of brutal blows to the head of Viloria, who fell to the canvas twice. McTavish then stopped the bout.
“I felt Viloria’s power but my determination to be a world champion helped me win this fight,” said Tamara, who said he drew inspiration from his two daughters.
Tamara improved to 21-4 with 15 knockouts, while Viloria fell to 25-3 with 15 knockouts.
“We never had a doubt that we could win since day one. Viloria is an excellent fighter and we will be visiting him in the hospital,” said Tamara’s trainer Butch Sanchez.
He said his ward is now on his third shot for a world title and made true of his plan to return to Colombia with a boxing belt.
As a light flyweight, Tamara 21-4 (15 KO) earned a silver medal for the South American nation at the 2003 Santo Domingo Pan American Games. He also represented his native Colombia in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, making it to the second round before dropping a decision to an Italian counterpart.
In the undercard, meanwhile, Donnie Nietes also stopped Jesus Sylvestre in the final round.
The referee stopped the fight in 1:37 after the 20-year-old Sylvestre spit his mouthpiece and turned his back on Nietes.
Nietes improved his record to 26-1-3 with 15 KOs, while Sylvestre dropped to 15-2.
In the other fights, Jimrex Jaca won his comeback fight as he knocked out Ramadhan Weriu in the fifth round; Jason Pagara escaped a close majority decision over Eddy Comaro; and Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr. had an impressive debut as he sent Anthony Balubar to the canvas in the second round. (Virgil Lopez/With Edri K. Aznar of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)