FightFan.com’s Luis Torres continues to take a look at the current crop of title fights set to be staged between Puerto Rican and Filipino fighters, with the Calderon-Mayol rematch scheduled for this Saturday, September 12. Check out his Luis’ thoughts on this week’s matchup, only on FightFan.com!
Last Friday, September 4, Marvin ‘Marvelous’ Sonsona of The Philippines not only became one of the youngest Filipino world titlists in history, he became the first Filipino fighter to beat a Puerto Rican champion. After compiling a 6-0-2 (5 KOs) record in world title fights against The Philippines, Puerto Rico lost the first of this unofficial three-fight series and was introduced to the latest Pinoy boxing sensation in the explosive Sonsona.
Round 2 will be a rematch of a fight that in many eyes has the potential to be The Philippines’ first big win over one of Puerto Rico’s best. Rodel Mayol gets a second shot at defensive pound-for-pound specialist Ivan ‘Iron Boy’ Calderon’s 108-pound world title. The first fight ended prematurely after accidental clashes of heads caused two severe cuts on the champion with the judges scorecards signaling a draw at the time of the stoppage.
This will be Mayol’s fourth attempt at a world title and he’s brimming with confidence after fighting on equal terms with the champion the last time they met. Calderon, who has been sparring with now former fellow champion Jose ‘Carita’ Lopez in preparation for this bout, has promised to get back to his usual self for the rematch. According to the champion, he was told that an impressive win against Mayol could help his case to gain more exposure and potentially clinch a spot on the televised portion of an HBO card.
Calderon admits to have deviated from his traditional elusive style in order to impress the New York audience and vows it will not be the case next time they meet, though some say it may have been more a case of Calderon having already hit his prime and that perhaps his last fight signaled the beginning of a downward spiral characteristic of slick boxers when father time finally catches up with them.
The ‘Iron Boy’ has denied such speculations. “I took the rematch because I know I can win. I take nothing away from Mayol but he saw the wrong Calderon. I will show many people that at 34 I’m still hungry for victory. That wasn’t the usual Calderon. This time I will not stand still; I will do my usual fight of hitting without getting hit and if he comes aggressive, I will just play him like I did with Cazares and Dieppa, ” said the champion during the final press conference.
Regardless, Mayol is the first blemish on what used to be Calderon’s clean record and now he has the opportunity to finish the job — and he’s vowed to get it done. “I’m coming to get the title. I already showed I can beat him, now I know I will beat him,” said Mayol.
So the stage is set for the next round of this emerging rivalry. Lopez and Sonsona gave us a thrilling battle which was well received by fight fans and Round 2 has the perfect ingredients for another memorable fight — a proud champion who’s found himself with something to prove against a hungry challenger who’s already tasted blood.
