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A routine IBF light flyweight title defense for Brian Viloria turned into something quite different last night at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City, Philippines.
The 29 year old from Hawaii had won the belt last April with a masterful KO of longtime champion Ulises Solis and retained the title handily in August against Jesus Iribe in front of an adoring hometown audience.
Viloria faced New Jersey based Colombian slugger Carlos Tamara last night and was expected to walk out of Cuneta Astrodome as the IBF titlist.
But the experienced Tamara, who had held regional crowns at both light fly and flyweight as well as unsuccessfully challenging 112 pound WBO champion Omar Andres Narvaez, battened down the hatches and waited for opportunities to arise.
For the first seven frames, those moments were hard to come by as Viloria, a 2000 US Olympian, controlled the pace of the bout behind his trademark body assault and appeared to be headed to a points victory against the challenger.
But iron-chinned Tamara soaked up everything Viloria could offer and began to turn the tide of the bout in the eighth as the champion hit the wall.
Tamara began to drive Viloria back, landing hard shots with both hands in a dramatic turn of events. By the 11th, things looked grim for the champion but in the final frame, Viloria was spent to the point of falling to the canvas after missing punches and referee Bruce McTavish was forced to stop the action at 1:45 of the 12th.
Carlos Tamara wins his first world title, climbing to 21-4 (15) in a shocking upset while Viloria drops to 26-3 (15), suffering his first stoppage loss.
On the undercard, WBO mini flyweight king Donnie Nietes, 26-1-3 (15), stopped Jesus Silvestre, 15-2 (12), in the tenth and final round during a non-title clash at light flyweight.
