Mayol wants title unification

MANILA, Philippines - Newly crowned WBC lightflyweight champion Rodel Mayol said yesterday he plans to enjoy a long reign and welcomes a unification showdown with WBA titlist Giovanni Segura after he disposes of Edgar Sosa in a rematch that is mandatory if the dethroned Mexican exercises his option.        

Mayol, 28, stopped Sosa in the second round to wrest the WBC 108-pound title in Chiapas, Mexico, last Saturday. That same night in Merida, another town in Mexico, Segura knocked out Filipino challenger Sonny Boy Jaro with a single body shot in the first round to retain the WBA crown.

“I’ve sparred with Segura before and I know I can beat him,” Mayol told The STAR. “Winning the world championship is something I’ve dreamed of for years. Now that I’ve finally done it, I plan to stay a world champion for a long time. I want to unify the lightflyweight championship. I’d like to fight Segura. The problem is the IBF champion is Brian Viloria and I wouldn’t like to fight another Filipino. The WBO champion is Ivan Calderon whom I’ve fought twice in two controversial bouts. I don’t think Calderon wants to fight me again.”

Mayol said he doubts if Sosa was in condition to fight when they faced off. At the weigh-in the day before the match, Mayol suspected the Mexican’s camp was up to no good.

“First, we were told the weigh-in would be at 1 p.m., then it was moved to 2 p.m. and later to 3 p.m.,” said Mayol. “We heard Sosa was buying time to make the limit. There was some confusion at the weigh-in and we never got to see the scales when Sosa weighed in. Too many people were around him. Sosa went up the scales then got off right away and somebody announced he made the weight.”

Mayol said Sosa looked dehydrated when the fight began and it showed in the lack of sting in his punches. In the first round, Mayol hurt Sosa at least twice with combinations. Early in the second round, Sosa suffered a slight cut on the right cheek after an accidental headbutt from Mayol who was penalized a point for the infraction. Sosa was given a few minutes to recover then was cleared by the ringside doctor to resume fighting. Not long after, Mayol floored Sosa with a left hook to the jaw. The Mexican got up on rubbery legs then took a series of blows along the ropes, prompting referee Robert Ramirez to step in.

Sosa said Mayol should have been disqualified for the headbutt and his manager Jacques Deschamps, a Frenchman from Haiti, called for the fight to be declared a no-contest.

“After the headbutt, Sosa seemed okay,” recalled Mayol. “Then, I hit him with a right and a left. I knew he was hurt. I didn’t let him go. I was determined to win. I think he’s just using the headbutt as an excuse for losing. He has the option for a rematch and I’ll fight him again anytime, anywhere.”

Mayol said he’s waiting for the WBC to send his championship belt. Once it arrives, Mayol, his wife Lira and their five-year-old son Eizre Bryce will fly home for a visit to show off the belt.

“We left our one-year-old son Railan Brent with my grandparents (Domingo and Alicia Mayol) in Mandaue,” said Mayol. “We miss him. He was born in the US so it’s no problem bringing him over but we left him with my grandparents so he can be looked after.”

Mayol’s wife, a UP Cebu management graduate, was at ringside for the fight. She is employed as an operations assistant at L. A. Gems, a jewelry store in downtown Los Angeles.

Mayol said he dedicated his victory to his grandparents, Manny Pacquiao and the Filipino fans who never lost faith in him.

“I owe this title to Manny,” said Mayol. “He gave me this break. He didn’t give up on me. It was my fifth attempt to win a world title and I finally did it.”

Mayol said Freddie Roach supervised his training at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles but it was Jesse Arevalo, an American of Mexican descent, who was in his corner for the fight.

“Freddie was busy with Manny when I was training so Jesse was assigned to work with me,” said Mayol. “When Freddie was free, he still coached me during sparring and we did the mitts.”

Dr. Ed de la Vega, who served as the Filipino’s cutman in the fight, said Sosa couldn’t handle Mayol’s speed and power. Arevalo said Mayol dominated the action from the onset and was clearly the superior fighter.

Mayol said he will visit his estranged parents when he comes home. Mayol, who has 18 units left before earning an accounting degree at Southwestern University, comes from a broken family. His parents Rodrigo and Leonisa Generalao split up in 1997. His father used to be a tricycle driver and has four children with a second wife. His mother lives in Malolos with two children from her second husband Angel Cruz, a jeepney driver who has died.

In a message to Filipino fighters hoping to become world champions someday, Mayol said: “Don’t lose hope, just keeping on training until you achieve your goal in your career with the help of God and prayers.”