Tamara upsets Viloria, wrests IBF world title

Carlos Tamara, in his third shot for a world title, made true to his word of returning to Colombia a champion. Tamara scored a stunning upset over Filipino-American Brian Viloria to wrest the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight crown by way of a 12th round technical knockout in the main event of "Boxing at the Bay: Collision Course" Saturday at the Astrodome in Pasay City.

"We never had a doubt from day on that we could win but Brian Viloria is an excellent fighter," said Tamara’s trainer Butch Sanchez. The Colombian challenger, on Wednesday arriving in Manila without a world crown, promised to snatch the title from Viloria and return home in Bogota a champion. Referee Bruce McTavish stopped the fight after Viloria, wobbly and on the verge of going down, received 14 unanswered punches from Tamara. The official time was 1:45 in the 12th round. Viloria was a no-show during the post-fight press conference and was rushed to the San Juan De Dios Hospital, which is near the Astrodome, for a routine check-up. Reports said that the deposed champion is now in stable condition and will be transferred to the Makati Medical Center. There were also reports that Viloria collapsed inside the dugout. Viloria even felt some chest pains inside his dugout after the fight although he was already feeling well while on his way to the hospital. Games and Amusements Board boxing chief Nasser Cruz attributed the chest pain as more of psychological on Viloria’s part. Tamara improved his record to 21 wins (15 KOs) and four losses while Viloria failed in his bid to defend the title for the third time and suffered his third loss - first by way of KO - against 26 wins with 15 KOs. – GMANews.TV