GAB chief: It’s not yet time for Viloria to retire

Brian Viloria may have suffered a brutal beating at the hands of Carlos Tamara Saturday in their International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight title fight. But amidst calls that the 29-year-old soft-spoken Filipino-American boxer should finally hang up his gloves, retirement must not be his immediate priority, according to Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chairman Eric Buhain. “No, not now. He still has a lot more to give," said Buhain a day after the Hawaiin Punch yielded his IBF 108-lb 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 call it quits 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. In stable condition 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. Dr. 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 for his 12-round fight with Tamara, saying going to TV broadcasting is among his options since he’s a broadcasting major. “After Saturday, that’s the only time that I will know my future," he said prophetically. - GMANews.TV