BRIAN VILORIA vs CARLOS TAMARA

Brian Viloria gave a devastating performance, the best of his career, when he crushed Ulises Solis in 11 rounds in his last appearance in the Philippines. On Saturday he makes another appearance in Manila when he defends his IBF junior flyweight title against Carlos Tamara, of Venezuela.

This is a fight that Viloria should win convincingly, but if he can become the first to stop Tamara it will be an impressive result.

There was a point in Viloria’s career where he seemed to be drifting out of fights through lack of concentration and commitment. He didn’t seem able to maintain momentum in his fights and tended to struggle in fights where he was expected to dominate.

However, since shifting his training base to Oxnard, CA, to be trained by ex-champ Robert Garcia, Viloria has regained his intensity and has never looked better. He destroyed the talented and experienced Solis, and since then Viloria has easily won a title defence by outclassing a durable Mexican challenger, Jesus Iribe.

Viloria fought in his home city of Honolulu when he defeated Iribe, and now he is back in his ancestral home of the Philippines to meet a capable but not exceptional challenger.

Tamara was a very good amateur (Venezuelan Olympic representative, silver medallist in the Pan American Games) but as a professional he has fallen short of top world class. He was given a boxing lesson by Omar Narvaez in a WBO flyweight title challenge in Argentina and lost to Giovanni Segura and Rayonta Whitfield. Tamara is capable, and he outpointed the tough and aggressive Juan Esquer in a current three-fight winning run.

Viloria looks too talented and too powerful for Tamara, but I think that the Venezuelan boxer has sufficient talent and toughness to put up a respectable showing. I anticipate a convincing win by Viloria, either by decision or a late stoppage, but I don’t expect him to have things all his own way.

Note: This preview was written away from base.