PACQUIAO BELIEVES MAYOL CAN BE A WORLD CHAMPION
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 06 May 2008
Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao believes that former world title challenger Rodel Mayol ?can become a world champion if he is serious about his career.?
Pacquiao was at special ringside to watch Mayol scored an impressive fifth round TKO over a game Wisan Sor Suchanya of Thailand at the Cebu Coliseum last Saturday along with wife Jinkee and close friend and confidant Rex ?Wakee? Salud.
Pacquiao said ?we need to support him (Mayol) and help him and that?s what we are doing.? At the same time the WBC super featherweight champion said that his wife Jinkee was now a manager of fighters and Mayol was one of them.
Mayol in turn expressed his deep gratitude to Pacquiao for his help. He said ?it?s a great relief to have him (Pacquiao) by my side because all of us boxers have been inspired by Manny and we want to be like him.?
In an interview with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Mayol said he wanted to show that the ?talented Rodel Mayol of the past was back? in his fight against Wisan and he hoped that ?this will continue and I?ll be back on track in my career.?
He said he was running daily and training at Rex ?Wakee? Salud?s gym where he spars with undefeated amateurs and solid eight and ten round fighters and that helped him get into good condition.
He noted that after he was released from his contractual obligations by former manager Yasuo Matsuoka he was very happy and hoped his career will continue without any managerial problems and he would become a world champion.
Mayol said he was prepared ?to do everything necessary to become a world champion and if I don?t become a world champion in my next title fight, I will retire.?
Mayol first got a crack at the WBC minimum weight title after scoring a fourth round TKO victory over Lorenzo Trejo in a title eliminator in Cancun on January 28, 2006. But he dropped a twelve round decision to Japan-based Thai champion Eagle Kyowa on May 6, 2006 when he ran out of steam in the championship rounds. He then moved up to light flyweight and earned a crack at Mexico?s IBF champion Ulises Solis but after having Solis on the verge of a knockout in round seven claimed he got careless in round eight and lost on August 4, 2007 in Rosemont, Illinois.
In his last fight in Guanajuato, Mexico, Mayol was the victim of a set-up and ended up fighting undefeated Adrian Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO?s) instead of his original journeyman opponent and lost by a fourth round KO after having Hernandez in trouble in the second and third rounds.
Top photo: Rodel Mayol's (R) left uppercut gets through behind Sor Suchanya's defenses in this bit of action of their fight May 3 at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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