WHERE TO, BRIAN?

Referee Bruce McTavish steps in to stop the fight after Brian Viloria goes down, giving Carlos Tamara a 12th round technical knockout win.

By Gerry Ramos

AMIDST speculations on what’s next for Brian Viloria following his brutal 12th round technical knockout loss to Colombian Carlos Tamara Saturday, Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chairman Eric Buhain believes retirement should not be among the boxer’s immediate priority.

"No, not now. He still has a lot more to give,” said Buhain a day after the 29-year old Honolulu-born Filipino-American yielded his International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight belt to Tamara.

The loss was among the worst in Viloria’s 29 fights as a pro. Exhaustion obviously caught up with him in the later rounds, so much so that he twice slipped in the final round as he tried to throw wild punches against Tamara in a futile bid to land a big one.

For the second straight time, Viloria’s reign as a world champion proved to be a short one.

He briefly held the World Boxing Council (WBC) version of the 108-lb belt in 2005, defending it just once before losing it to Omar Nino Romero by way of unanimous decision in less than a year.

His reign as IBF champion also didn’t last a year as he was just able to defend it against Jesus Iribe last August in Hawaii, before the heartbreaking end came on that fateful Saturday morning at the Astrodome.

Immediately, there were calls for Viloria to finally hang up his gloves after losing a title fight he dominated for the first eight rounds only to wear out in the end.

The Viloria camp, including manager Gary Githelson and trainer Robert Garcia, remained mum on the future of the former 2000 Sydney Olympian as he tries to recover first from that stunning loss to Tamara.

By Sunday, doctors at the Makati Medical Center declared Viloria in stable condition, but advised him to remain on the hospital for at least two more days.

Dra. Regina Makalintal said tests conducted on the former two-time boxing champion yielded negative results, including the CT scans. She added Viloria is wide awake and is already talking.

Follow up tests would be conducted on Viloria as precautionary measure, according to Githelson, who also advised his boxer to take a rest by staying in Manila for another week before returning back to the U.S.

Viloria was rushed to the hospital shortly after the fight when he complained that he felt weak just as he entered his dressing room shortly after the fight.

He was at the receiving end of 14 unanswered punches by the 26-year old Tamara when referee Bruce McTavish decided to waive off the fight at the 1:45 mark of the 12th round.

Viloria hinted about life after boxing during the press conference of his 12-round fight with Tamara, saying going to tv broadcasting is among his option since he’s a broadcasting major.

“After Saturday, that’s the only time that I will know my future,” he said prophetically. -Philippine Boxing