MEXICO ` Another Filipino has turned out to be a thorn in a Mexican’s side.
Undefeated Rodel Mayol scored a spectacular fourth round knockout of homeboy Lorenzo Trejo Sunday to earn a crack against reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) strawweight champion Eagle Kyowa of Japan.
The 12-round bout at the Plaza de Toros, Cancun, ROO here served as an elimination match for the right to face the flamboyant Kyowa next. Kyowa is freshed from defending his title for the third time ` a seventh round technical knockout win over Ken Nakajima last January 9.
It was one of the major undercards in the Jorge Arce-Adonis Rivas rematch.
A partisan crowd showed up for the fight that came exactly a week since boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao scored an impressive 10th round technical knockout win over Mexico ring hero Erik Morales.
Taking the cue from his more popular countryman, the top-ranked Mayol silenced the Mexican fans by decking Trejo, rated no. 2 by the WBC, right on the opening round.
Mayol then put Trejo down for good with a crushing uppercut in the fourth.
The remarkable victory raised the Filipino’s record to 22-0, including 17 by KOs, while Trejo dropped to 24-13, 11 inside the distance.
Meanwhile, Arce stopped Rivas for the second time in two months when the former two-time World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion quit after the sixth round.
The rematch came about after Arce’s unpopular 10th round stoppage of Rivas in December of last year.
The Mexican bomber (43-3-1, with 33 KOs) put on a brilliant performance, repeatedly pummeling Rivas (21-9-10 and 10 KOs) with hard punches.
In other news, HBO Pay-Per-View (PPV) announced the other day that a total of 350,000 buys were generated by last week’s Pacquiao-Morales fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The figures were slightly higher than the 340,000 buys earned in the first meeting between the two ring warriors in March last year.
The 350,000 buys exceeded HBO PPV’s expectations while the exciting match kicked off what HBO expects to be an exciting 2006 for boxing fans.
