TOKYO—Rodel Mayol started out sharp and strong but faded rapidly against Eagle Kyowa in the later rounds to lose his first bout in 23 fights and drop his bid for the WBC minimum weight title via a unanimous decision at the Korakuen Hall Saturday night.
After dominating the first six rounds, Mayol tired down and got pummeled in the closing rounds to fail in his attempt to become the country’s lone world champion.
The celebrated Manny Pacquiao, a no-show here, holds the WBC International super featherweight crown reserved for boxers ranked 11th and lower by the world body.
Earlier in the card, Malcolm Tu?acao provided the Philippines with its moment of glory, turning from masterful to ferocious to stop Japan’s Yasuo Kijima in the 11th round and retain his Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight crown.
Mayol barely survived the final round after he was axed with a right cross, went down and was given the eight count after what had looked like a push.
Chuck Hasset had it 115-112, Alejandro Rochin scored 114-113, and Gale Van Hoi tallied 117-110-all for the defending champion. The Inquirer saw it 115-112 for Kyowa.
Mayol and his corner protested the knockdown but it was already clear at that point that the gallant Filipino had already lost his early grip on the match and his bid for the world crown was fading fast.
Mayol had punished Kyowa, a Thai national fighting with a Japanese tag, in the first six rounds but the defending champion, his face swollen and the right eye almost shut, managed to crawl back into the contest as Mayol failed to sustain his brilliance.
Tu?acao, the former WBC flyweight champion, dominated the one-sided bout against his Japanese foe and displayed fancy ringsmanship before unleashing an unanswered flurry that forced the referee to halt the fight.
The vastly experienced Tu?acao was enjoying a punching picnic but lost the fourth round when he became careless and got tagged with a combination to the head.
After allowing the fight to drag, Tu?acao flashed his old form near the end of the 11th.
