VILORIA IN STABLE CONDITION AFTER COLLAPSING IN DRESSING ROOM
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 23 Jan 2010
Brian Viloria who lost his IBF light flyweight title to Carlos Tamara of Colombia in a stunning TKO at 1:45 of the 12th round is in “stable condition” at the Makati Medical Center where he was transferred to after being initially rushed to the San Juan De Dios Hospital near the Cuneta Astrodome where the fight took place.
Viloria appeared to have punched himself out in a fight where he hurt Camara with vicious body shots in the early rounds before wilting, giving the former Colombian Olympian a chance to come back with continuous flurries and some big shots to the side of the head as Viloria was dazed and ultimately could hardly move.
The ninth round was the beginning of the end for Viloria who was comfortably ahead after eight rounds. Even as his trainer Robert Garcia screamed at him to use the jab and to move which proved effective in the early going, Viloria who appeared to be egged on by the crowd tried to go for a knockout as Filipino fight fans kept chanting “Viloria! Viloria!!” and paid the price.
Tamara continued to pressure Viloria relentlessly and although the champion occasionally caught the mandatory challenger with some wild shots, his punches had lost their sting while Tamara appeared to be getting stronger and his confidence zooming as he sensed Viloria was in trouble.
Viloria got drawn into a close quarter slugfest in round eleven and paid heavily as Tamara connected time and again and with his energy almost totally sapped, Viloria stumbled onto the canvas twice in the final round out of sheer fatigue. Sensing his chance Tamara rushed Viloria against the ropes and hammered him with a flurry of punches before international referee Bruce McTavish stepped in and very correctly signaled the end as Viloria could hard stay on his feet.
Viloria was helped to his dressing room where he collapsed and was then rushed to the nearby San Juan De Dios Hospital where they wasted almost 30 minutes with no CT Scan being done and no doctor attending to him forcing Solar Sports top executives Wilson Tseng and Peter Chanliong and Viloria’s manager Gary Gittelsohn to have him transferred to the extremely well-equipped Makati Medical Center where he was given a CT Scan and a series of other tests.
Games and Amusements Board boxing division chief Dr. Nasser Cruz who spoke to Viloria inside the emergency room said “right now he is stable. They did a lot of medical tests. CT Scan was good and normal, they were worried about the cervical spine because Brian was complaining of neck pains so they did a scan also. They were entertaining more of muscle spasms. They did a chest Xray and it was also good so right now he is being asked to stay in the hospital, maybe overnight to observe because boxers who have a difficult fight and receive a lot of punches to the head really have to stay in the hospital like they did in the cases of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.”
Dr. Cruz said Viloria who complained about a headache “could have had a mild concussion or just a mere cervical spasm, the muscles of the neck.”
Attending physician Dr. Regina Makalintal told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports “the patient is conscious, follows verbal commands. He’s just complaining of unusual tightness of the head but the cranial nerves are okay, there is no paralysis or weakness of the upper and lower extremities, his reflexes are okay.We did a scan and its normal, there is no evidence of bleeding, there is no fracture of the skull. He is stable in his functions and he’s doing good.”
Top photo: The end came for Brian Viloria's defense of his IBF junior flyweight title when referee Bruce McTavish (C) stopped the fight at 1:45 of the last round after Viloria (R) received a flurry of unanswered punches from the new champion Carlos Tamara of Columbia. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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