ONE-TIME world minimumweight title challenger Rodel Mayol is asking the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) for a speedy resolution of the case he filed against estranged Japanese manager Yasuo Matsuoka.
The 25-year-old Mayol has been in Georgia the past two months with former American manager Terry Carter.
Carter, who maintains a home in Lilo-an, Cebu together with Filipina partner Joy Ouano, is now providing refuge for the beleaguered former Oriental champion in the United States.
In an overseas phone interview with BusinessMirror, Mayol said he wants to cut his ties with Matsuoka as the Japanese businessman failed to set a bout for the Filipino fighter since last year. Mayol’s managerial deal with Matsuoka will expire in 2010.
Last May, Mayol sent GAB an official complaint letter, claiming that Matsuoka did not provide decent sparring partners while preparing for his title shot.
Mayol (23-1, 18 knockouts) came up short in his only world title bid in May of 2006 in Tokyo as he lost a close 12-round decision to World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Eagle Kyowa, a Japan-based fighter from Thailand.
A hearing is set on July 3 at the GAB office in Makati.
Mayol’s last outing was on September 2006 when he stopped Japanese Masatsugu Okada in the first of their 10-round nontitle tiff in Yokohama, Japan.
Mayol told BusinessMirror he wants to fight as soon as possible especially now that he continues to get offers from American promoters to fight in their card.
“Light training lang muna ako kasi gusto ko munang malaman ang desisyon ng GAB sa kaso ko. May offer din ako na lumaban sa August at ’yun ang pinaghahandaan ko ngayon,” said Mayol during the interview.
The Mandaue native Mayol plans to campaign in the light-flyweight division where he feels he can measure up well against the current champions of the division.
Despite his long layoff, Mayol remains the third-ranked challenger of both the WBC and International Boxing Federation (IBF) in the minimumweight division.
Although he is still comfortable in the minimumweight category, Mayol said there are more lucrative fights in the light-flyweight class.
No settlement yet
THE two giant firms battling it out for the promotional rights to Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao up till now are falling short in reaching a settlement.
BusinessMirror gathered from sources that influential personalities involved in the case are still pursuing the best available scheme to make warring entities Top Rank Inc. and Golden Boy Promotions arrive at a compromise and avert a protracted litigation.
Several mediators were assigned by the court and as of today, most of them are still burning the lines hoping that both parties will still settle, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday.
The same source said that the most the mediators were able to get was a status quo on their respective arguments.
If the mediation ends up in a stalemate, the likelihood is that the case will be litigated possibly in October, added the source. The mediators, led by a retired judge, are in contact with lawyers and executives of both companies via telephone.
