On Saturday night in Queretaro, Mexico, Rodel Mayol defends his WBC light flyweight title against Omar Nino, as the main event on this weekend?s edition of ?Top Rank Live? on Fox Sports Net/Espanol. Mayol hails from the Philippines but lately, he?s spent a lot of time in Mexico. And most likely, he?ll be there a few more times.
“It?s like my second home, Mexico, because I?ve been fighting there for like six fights,” said Mayol, a couple of weeks ago after his workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. But a closer inspection of his record on Boxrec.com shows that this will actually be his fifth appearance (and his third consecutive fight) down below the border.
“For me,” he said,” it?s the same everywhere I fight. I?ve been to a lot of countries to fight. So it?s normal for me to fight in other countries.”
For any fighter below 112 pounds, traveling to Mexico or Asia is just fact of life. And it turns out that the guys he?s been facing recently, for the WBC belt, all hail from this country.
“Right now, there?s a lot of good Mexicans, a lot of champions. Maybe it?s good for me,” said Mayol, who shares the distinction of being a ?champion? at 108-pounds with Mexicans Luis Lazarte and Giovanni Segura, along with Puerto Rican slickster Ivan Calderon, who is considered the premiere boxer in the division. Mayol had two aborted bouts with Calderon where he walked away with a draw and a loss. Both fights were halted due to accidental headbutts in 2009.
The reality is that almost everywhere they go outside their homeland, unless each of their names is Manny Pacquiao, Filipino fighters are always the road team. Mayol will be a fighter who will always have to keep an updated passport or visa.
But fighters fight; that?s what they do to earn a living. Where the fights take place, the fighters really have no control over.
?The big difference, I guess, is the crowd and other promotional team. That?s basically what I look at. Just the little tricks of the trade, just to throw the fighter off,? points out Jesse Arevalo, the lead trainer for Mayol. As for their recent treatment in Mexico, he says, “Well, there?s definitely been a lot of funny things. First, they?re surprised that I?m a Mexican because they ask me if I?m part Filipino because they see me with him. But I think part of that is good for Rodel because it makes him feel more comfortable having me around. I can understand what they?re saying. So that works for him.
“The only thing that could throw us off is that, y? know, they just bring up the fact that with the headbutts, every time, it?s just the headbutt things, the head-butt thing. And sometimes that gets a little frustrating, a little upsetting. But hey, that?s part of the game.”
(More on that issue later.)
But anytime a fighter travels there are issues to deal with. This trip isn?t all that long, but the trainer points out, “As far as Mexico and Rodel?s fight, this one might be a little different because it?s a little higher altitude. The other ones weren?t too much. It was lower levels; the climate?s been basically the same as here. But yeah, when we go overseas, definitely; two weeks is best because the time adjustment and all that. At least a good week for the body and everybody to get in tune.”
As for the headbutt issue referenced by Arevalo, well, it?s hard to deny that going back to his two fights with Calderon, he?s been like a battering ram and his most recent contests have been downright Luis Santana-esque. In defeating Edgar Sosa for this title back in November, the shot that stopped the defending champion was really a clash of noggins. His first defense against Nino in late-February was downright bizarre.
Mayol recalls, “I remember that he hit me with a low-blow and then I didn?t expect him to punch me when the referee said ?Stop.? And I didn?t expect it, so I didn?t look at Nino. I just turned a little bit and then he threw a punch. He hit me with a hard hook; I didn?t expect that.” This fight was eventually ruled a three-round technical draw.
Coming into his latest contest, four of his last five fights have ended prematurely, due to some sort of foul or a cut caused by an accidental clash of heads. When asked about the bizarre circumstances of his recent outings, Mayol says, “This time I want to show that it will not happen again.”
Predictably, Arevalo believes that his charge was on his way to winning his last two fights.
“I think in the Edgar Sosa case, I know Sosa was weak, couldn?t make the weight anymore. So it was a big benefit to Rodel,? admitted Arevalo. ?So no matter whether the headbutt was there, he was still going to stop him. At least that?s what I feel. He looked off; he looked weak as far as his punching. I knew that Rodel was going to finish him off. As far Nino, Nino was a little bit stronger; it?s more of his weight class. But he was getting frustrated as the rounds went on. I believe that?s what made him resort to those tactics, like stepping on his feet, hitting him low.”
Regardless, it looks like Mexico will always be a part of his yearly itinerary.
“That?s just it,” said Arevalo, “I mean, there?s a lot of good Mexican fighters at that weight class and this is just something we?ll have to deal with as we go on in his career.”
But Mayol, who is handled by Pacquiao, is hopeful. “I win this fight, maybe MP Promotions or Top Rank will take me to the Philippines or here (in the United States).”
K2
According to Shelly Finkel, who advises the Klitschko brothers, when it comes to IBF/WBO heavyweight titleholder Wladimir?s immediate future, “I don?t believe that we?re going to have a fight with David Haye and so we?re going forward with the purse bid with Alexander Povetkin.”
That fight would take place in September. As for Haye, ?The Boy Who Cried Klitschko,? Finkel states, “My gut feel is he?s going to fight Audley Harrison.”
As for Vitali, who holds the WBC strap, Finkel is hoping to make an October match-up with Nikolay Valuev, in a fight where perhaps instead of touching gloves beforehand, they should have a jump-ball.
JUMP BALL FLURRIES
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