Mayol: Underdog's quiet quest for greatness

THERE COULD only be one valid reason why undefeated Rodel Mayol has been pegged an awful underdog in his quest for the World Boxing Council minimumweight title in Tokyo on Saturday. Mayol is less known than defending champion Eagle Kyowa, a Thai fighter masquerading as a Japanese.

In fact, Mayol is not too famous here at home.

The routine question after it was announced that Mayol would finally get his long overdue crack at a world crown was: Who’s he?

Sportsbook.com, noted Nick Giongco of the Manila Bulletin, has pegged Mayol at +300 and Kyowa at -400.

Plainly put, a $100 bet on Mayol would pay off $300, while a $400 wager on Kyowa would give back only $100.

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That discrepancy, naturally, has sent local fight experts salivating.

In fact, it won't be surprising if Manny Pacquiao would request his Cebu-based confidante, Rex Wakee Salud, to wager a wad of dollars on the quiet punching marvel from Mandaue City.

You see, going by the odds, it could appear that Kyowa, the Thai whose real name is Den Jalaphan, could flatten and overwhelm Mayol with the use of only one hand.

That's rather odd because, to those who have not heard of Mayol, the mandatory challenger happens to have carved out a more brilliant knockout record than his two famous peers, Brian Viloria and Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista.

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OK, Mayol, Viloria and Bautista are all undefeated.

Viloria, reigning WBC light flyweight king, is 18-0 with 12 KOs (67 percent), Bautista is 19-0 with 14 KOs (74 percent).

Mayol? He owns the best knockout percentage among the three: 22-0 with 17 KOs (77 percent).

Actually, there had been happy glimpses of Mayol by local fans, but these came mainly in delayed televised bouts three to four years ago.

Dusky, strong and sharp, the quiet, marble-eyed slasher would dispose of assorted foes -- Korean, Thai, Indon, Filipino -- to rise in world rankings, before being methodically avoided by higher rated boxers in the exacting 105-lb class.

Just like the colorful and widely more popular Boom Boom Bautista, Mayol is a product of the Tony Aldeguer Stable (ALA) in Cebu.

He was next taken in by American Terry Carter, who later ceded the budding national treasure to a Japanese fight manager.

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So where was Mayol? What had he been doing while Boom Boom and Brian were clashing with the best in their division out in foreign rings?

Mayol, together with Malcolm Tu?acao, holed up in the Tokyo stable of Yasuo Matsuoka, a famous and respected Japanese advertising executive.

Mayol maintained his unblemished record, fighting brilliantly, away from the eyes of his countrymen, before erasing the final hump to the world title challenge in Mexico.

Again, that feat, which saw him stop Mexican Lorenzo Trejo in the eliminator in Cancun the week after Pacquiao stopped Erik Morales in Las Vegas, hardly created a ripple here at home.

Anyway, knowing Matsuoka, he would not mind the unfair billing his fighter has been getting.

In fact, Matsuoka, married to Gina, a gracious Filipina, also feels that Saturday's test could be the toughest in Mayol's brilliant career.

Kyowa, 15-1 with 5 KOs, is known to be durable, foxy and strong.

His only loss, reports Wakee Salud, came after he injured a shoulder in an earlier title defense. He later avenged that setback to regain his crown.

Now, let's hear it from international referee Bruce McTavish, who retains a store of the strengths and weaknesses of world-rated boxers underneath his puzzling hairdo.

"Mayol is bound to be even greater than Manny Pacquiao," McTavish assures.

Maybe it's no plain coincidence that Mayol would be going for the world crown (to be covered by Solar Sports) at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, venue of some of Gabriel “Flash” Elorde's greatest fights.