Monday, August 06, 2007 A nightmare for RP's Mayol By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
FILIPINO boxer Rodel Mayol's dream of capturing a world crown ended in a nightmare when he got stopped in the eighth round by title-holder Ulises Solis of Mexico in their International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight encounter Saturday at the All State Arena in Chicago.
Mayol made a mistake and paid dearly for it as Solis hit him with a 1-2 punch combination, the second one a jolting overhand right to the chin that sent the Filipino crashing to the deck for good.
Mayol was smiling when he tried to get up but was clearly hurt and was still dazed when the referee signaled the end of the fight at 1:13 of the eighth.
And so goes another futile attempt by Mayol, who also fought for a world title against Eagle Kyowa for the latter's WBC minimum weight crown back in 2006 but lost by unanimous decision.
Mayol started the fight tentatively, but settled down after three rounds when he began to connect and land his combinations.
In the sixth, Mayol had Solis in queer street with a left hook and was all set to finish off the champ, who held Mayol's legs for dear life before going down on all knees.
The referee, however, ruled a slip and didn't award Mayol with a knockdown.
Mayol, sensing his opponent was hurt, went for the attack but Solis survived the round.
In the seventh, Mayol landed good combinations but Solis fought back and land some shots of his own, including a left to the midsection.
In the ensuring round, Mayol chased the champion again and was landing some shots beautifully when he made the mistake of dropping his guard and got caught with left and a sizzling right.
With the win, Solis improved his record to 25-1 with 19 KOs, while Mayol dropped to 23-2 with 18 KOs.
The victory by the Mexican somewhat avenged the defeat of Jorge Solis, Ulises' elder brother who got knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in the eighth round last April in San Antonio, Texas.
It was not all bad news for the Filipinos though in Chicago as Bernabe Concepcion and Mercito Gesta fashioned out contrasting wins earlier.
Concepcion was spectacular in knocking out Gabriel Elizondo in the fourth round to capture the North American Boxing Federation super bantamweight title.
Gesta pulled off a hard-earned win over Carlos Madrid in their six-round featherweight clash.
