MANILA, Philippines - It turned out Carlos Tamara wasn’t bluffing when he said during Friday’s official weigh-in he’d be flying out of the country as the new IBF light-flyweight champion.
He will.
The 26-year-old Colombian, so hungry for a world title. pounded Fil-American Brian Viloria into submission yesterday, scoring a 12th round technical knockout at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Filipino crowd that had hoped for a victory went home disappointed that Viloria, after taking control of the fight until the eighth round, lost steam and started kissing Tamara’s gloves.
While Tamara sported bruises all over his face after the fight, his punches proved heavier than Viloria’s because it was the latter who failed to carry on and forced the referee to stop the fight.
In the final three rounds, Viloria lived on instinct. It must be the crowd chanting his name that kept him going. But in the 12th and last round, there was no one who could help him. Except the referee.
Tamara answered the bell for the 12th round with his right arm raised. Then he went for the kill, hurting Viloria with head blows. Viloria looked hurt, winded and exhausted and he lost his balance and fell down twice after missing with wild swings.
The end came in the 1:45 mark of the final round when Viloria, with his back against the ropes, looked so helpless as he took a flurry of blows to the head. Referee Bruce McTavish jumped in between the two fighters to halt the execution.
The Tamara corner whooped it up shortly after, with the 26-year-old veteran of thre 2004 Athens Olympics bouncing for joy. Just across the ring, Viloria looked like he just fought a hundred rounds, wearing an oxygen mask and a big cut over his left eye.
It was the first world title for Tamara, who never had a doubt that when he boards his plane back to New Jersey at 8 a.m. today, he’d be carrying the wonderful belt that Viloria used to wear, and may never wear again.
“We never had a doubt, from day one of the camp,” said Tamara, who doesn’t speak English, through his trainer, Butch Sanchez, during the post-fight press conference.
“But Brian is an excellent champion. I thought I was down but when the conditions changed, I went at him with everything I had. I think my shifting stance confused him, and when he started missing, I started jumping on him,” he added.
As Tamara fielded questions from the media, Viloria was being rushed to the hospital. (See related story)
“Brian is a great person. Everybody in that camp is a class act. Not one bad word was said before this fight. And right after this we’re going straight to the hospital to make sure he’s okay,” said Sanchez.
“That’s our biggest concern now. That Brian is safe. He’s a great person. He’s a very good person,” he added.
Even if he survived the last round, Viloria could have lost the contest because the last round could have gone 10-8 round for the Colombian. After 11 rounds, judge Ray Reed had it 105-104 for Viloria; Joe Garcia, 106-103, again for Viloria; and Samsak Sirianant, 105-104, for Tamara.
“I’m just hungry I wanted to become the world champion. Brian was strong in the early rounds but again my hunger made the difference. My determination was too much for Brian to overcome,” said Tamara who looked forward to his next match.
“Brian is the best at 108 pounds and I just beat him. Now I want Ivan Calderon. So, let’s get it on. Let’s fight,” said Tamara, who doesn’t see a rematch with Viloria ever happening.
In the supporting bouts, Filipinos Donnie Nietes, Jimrex Jaca and Jason Pagara disposed of their foreign opponents while Dodie Boy Peñalosa Jr., son of the former two-time world champion, made his pro debut by knocking out Anthony Balubar in the second round.
Nietes, the reigning WBO minimumweight champion, floored Mexico’s Jesus Silvestre in the first round then waited for his opponent to give up the fight in the 10th and final round while Jaca pulled off a fifth-round stoppage over Indonesia’s Ramadhan Weriu in their lightweight encounter.
Nietes’ crown was not at stake in the fight because Silvestre, a last-minute replacement for Gutty Gutierrez, is not ranked by the WBO. But the pride of Bacolod City put on a show for the fans and improved his record to 25-1-3 (14 knockouts).
Pagara had a tougher time against another Indonesian, Eddy Comaro, and won their lightweight bout scheduled for 10 rounds via majority decision. He is now 21-1-0 while Jaca improved to 29-6-3.
Dodie Boy Jr. went to work early, tagging his opponent from Vigan City with clean shots to the head and body and sending him down with a right hook barely a minute into their super-bantamweight contest.
Balubar went down again from a heavy body shot with a minute left in the second round and went down for good a few seconds later after taking another big shot to the right side of the body.