Referee hails Viloria's brave heart

MANILA, Philippines - New Zealand referee Bruce McTavish said yesterday if not for Brian Viloria’s big heart, the Hawaiian Punch could’ve coasted to victory in his IBF lightflyweight title defense against Colombian Carlos Tamara and avoided the abrupt end to his reign.

Viloria led on two of the three judges scorecards entering the 12th and final round when McTavish stopped it with less than two minutes left in the fight at the Cuneta Astrodome last Saturday afternoon. Viloria never went down but slipped twice in the last round, unable to keep his balance because of exhaustion. He was helpless along the ropes with Tamara firing from all angles when McTavish stepped in.

In the dressing room after the bout, Viloria complained of dizziness and was rushed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital for stabilization then to the Makati Medical Center for tests. Viloria was in tears when he was brought out of the Astrodome. He spent the night at the Makati Medical Center and was scheduled to be discharged yesterday. All tests turned out negative.

“Brian asked me why I stopped it because he wanted to finish the fight,” said McTavish. “The kid’s got a big heart. He could’ve just held on, clinched and danced away. But Brian didn’t want to disappoint the fans. He fought until the end. He’s a real warrior. You don’t find too many fighters like him anymore.”

McTavish said from his experience of working over 100 world title fights, he has witnessed champions like Viloria bounce back from a defeat like what he suffered last Saturday.

“I don’t think it’s the end of the road for Brian although it’s his decision whether or not to go on fighting,” said McTavish. “If he decides to come back, it’ll be a more a mental struggle than anything else. But he’s a tough kid. If he wants to, Brian can come back and fight again. He lost his stamina against Tamara. It wasn’t like he was knocked out of his feet.”

McTavish said Viloria looked burned out in the end. “It seemed to me that he was dehydrated,” added McTavish. “I couldn’t let it go on. The health of a fighter is my priority. Brian was defenseless. If I didn’t stop it when I did, he could’ve been seriously injured.”

McTavish was congratulated by the hometown crowd for his intervention at 1:45 of the 12th.

Viloria’s trainer Robert Garcia, the former IBF superfeatherweight champion from Oxnard, California, said the champion let it all hang out in the eighth round when he almost floored Tamara and had little left in his tank the rest of the way.

“I don’t think he was overtrained,” said Garcia. “He ate well and had no difficulty making the weight during our camp. He was around 109-110 pounds after each workout. He was in excellent shape. But that’s boxing. You’ll never know what can happen in the ring. When I saw that Brian got really tired after the eighth, I told him to just jab and move away. But Brian didn’t want to run. If he was going down, he wanted to go down fighting. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

Garcia said he’ll support whatever decision Viloria makes about his career.

“Right now, I’m thinking maybe he should retire,” said Garcia. “He’s done it all. He’s enjoyed a good run. He’s won two world titles. But that’s what I think today. Maybe, tomorrow, when things normalize, I’ll think differently. It’s up to Brian. I’ll support whatever he decides. He’s like a brother to me. We’re like family. I’ll always be there for him.”

Garcia said Viloria never collapsed and never lost consciousness after the fight.

“We took him to the hospital in an ambulance because we wanted to be sure he was fine,” said Garcia. “The doctors were great. All the tests showed no damage. By night time, he was joking and eating in his hospital room.”

Attending neurologist Dr. Regina Macalintal-Canlas declared Viloria out of danger at the Makati Medical Center late Saturday night.

Garcia credited Tamara for the come-from-behind win. “I congratulated him,” said Garcia. “He deserved to win. I told him to enjoy his reign, that he showed a lot of guts in coming to Manila and fighting Brian.”

Viloria’s cutman Ruben Gomez said the Filipino from Waipahu, Hawaii, and Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, has nothing to be ashamed of.

“I thought Brian had a tougher fight against (Ulises) Solis than Tamara,” said Gomez who worked Manny Pacquiao’s corner as a cutman when the Filipino stopped Lehlo Ledwaba for the IBF superbantamweight crown in Las Vegas in 2001. “He just got tired. I thought Brian was too tight, too tense. When you’re tight and tense, you get tired more easily. I told him to relax, to have fun and enjoy the fight. But I think he wanted a spectacular finish to please the fans and put a lot of pressure on himself. He wanted to knock out Tamara.”

Gomez said Viloria ran out of gas after expending all his energy trying to stop Tamara in the eighth.

“My wife (Maria Pompeya) noticed that Brian’s eyes looked sunken before the fight, like he was drained,” said Gomez. “But he wasn’t hungry. I brought fruits to the dressing room before the fight and Brian didn’t eat any. Tamara took Brian’s hardest shots and he never went down. You’ve got to give him credit for that.”

Gomez said maybe, it’s time for Viloria to consider retiring.