Filipino Rodel Mayol stole the limelight from compatriot Marvin Sonsona after scoring a second round technical knockout win against Edgar Sosa of Mexico to wrest the World Boxing Championship (WBC) light flyweight title. Despite the boos at the Palengue de la Feria in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), the 28-year-old Mayol sent Sosa to the canvas in the first round after he peppered the Mexican with combinations. A flurry of punches dropped Sosa again in the next round but beat the referee’s count. Mayol continued unleashing a barrage of deadly combos, forcing the referee to stop the contest.

“He asked me for a rematch after the fight and I’ll give it to him,” Mayol, who manages Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao, told PhilBoxing.com. “But I’ll have to talk to Manny [Pacquiao] first.”

Mayol improved to 26-2-1 with 20 knockouts, while Sosa, who first won the WBC light flyweight belt on April 14, 2007 by besting Filipino-American Brian Viloria in San Antonio, Texas, dropped to 37-6-0, 21 knockouts. The Mexican has successfully defended the title 10 times.

Over at the Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada, Sonsona ended his 12-round match against Mexican challenger Alejandro Hernandez in a split draw.

Even before the fight started, Sonsona (14-0, 12 knockouts) was already stripped of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior bantamweight crown after he tipped the scales 117.6 pounds.

Climbing the ring 2.6 pounds overweight, Sonsona capitalized on his size and reach advantage in the first two rounds, but appeared to be spent in the later rounds, which could have been the result of his efforts to make the 115-pound weight limit.

Hernandez (22-7-1, 11 knockouts) thought he should have won the fight and earned his first world title.

“Definitely I don’t think the judges did a good job because I believe I won by unanimous decision,” he said.

One of the judges scored the fight at 115-114 in favor of the 5’7” Sonsona while the other saw at 115-113 for Hernandez. The third judge scored it at 114-114 for the split draw decision.
JOSEF T. RAMOS