Rodel “Magnum Force” Mayol’s dream of becoming a world champion was shattered by Japan-based Thai fighter Eagle Kyowa.
The champion kept his World Boxing Council (WBC) straw-weight title following a unanimous decision win after a heated 12-round encounter at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan last night.
Judges Gale Van Hoy and Chuck Hasset of the US and Alejandro Rochini of Mexico scored the bout 117-110, 114-113 and 115-112, respectively, all for Kyowa.
However, the Filipinos did not end up empty handed as Malcolm “Eagle Eye” Tu?acao, a Manduae City native like Mayol, retained his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight title after stopping his challenger Yasuo Kijima in the 11th round of a scheduled 12-round battle.
Tu?acao looked sharp from the start connecting with several shots to the head and body of Kijima before the fight was stopped at the 2:04 mark of the 11th round.
Tu?acao improved to 20-1-3 win-loss-draw with 14 wins by knockout, while Kijima dropped to 19-9-2 with five KOs.
The title-hungry Mayol was aggressive all night long, especially in the early rounds where he led, hitting the champion from different angles, while Kyowa, whose right eye was shut because of Mayol’s relentless punching, contented himself with counterpunches.
However, Mayol was deducted a point in the fifth round for an accidental head butt, while Kyowa inflicted a cut under the left eye of the challenger in the sixth.
The 24-year-old Mayol started to slow down in the seventh and was knocked down in the 12th.
Mayol’s camp questioned the scoring of Van Hoy, who gave a lopsided decision.
“While one judge had Rodel behind by only a point and the other by three, the other judge saw him behind by seven points. Probably he was watching another fight,” said trainer Brix Flores.
Flores, however, admitted that they were caught unaware of the changes of adopted by Kyowa, who was never intimidated throughout the fight.
The defeat was Mayol’s fist in 23 fights as he dropped to 22-1 with 17 KOs, while Kyowa improved to 16-1 with six KOs.
