Another Heartbreak for Rodel Mayol
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 15 Jun 2009
If Rodel Mayol went into this fight with a sense of desperation, he certainly did not show it during fight time.
The 27 year old native of Mandaue City was a former hot prospect and considered a future world champ after winning Philippine and OPBF titles. But he lost to then WBC minimumweight champ Eagle Kyowa (L-UD12 in May 2006) and Ulises Solis (L-TKO8 in August 2007).
Mayol is now entering his ninth year as a professional. Now training under the tutelage of Buboy Fernandez and Manny Pacquiao, he got his third crack at a world title against the world's best pure boxer and arguably his best opponent to date.
The 5?4? Mayol (25-3, 19KO's- 1D) towered over undefeated 5 foot Calderon (33W -0 - 1D, 6KO) and made good use of his physical advantages. The Puerto Rican could not get untracked and was on the defensive for most of the abbreviated bout. The champion did manage to land counters but the window of opportunity for Mayol to bring back a world crown was wide open.
But an accidental headbutt in round four opened up a cut on Calderon?s forehead. Two more headbutts in the fifth worsened the cut. In the sixth round the cut reopened and the ring doctor advised to stop the fight at 1:50 in the sixth round. Under WBO rules the fight goes to the scorecards including the sixth round. The scorecards read: 58-56 for Calderon, 58-56 for Mayol, and 57-57.
The 34 year old Calderon was making the fourth defense of the WBO junior flyweight crown he wrested from Hugo Cazares two years ago. He had a four year reign in the 105-lb ranks, where the Puerto Rican southpaw was unbeatable with 11 successful defenses. This fight however, was a close call.
Mayol was even on the verge of celebrating waving a small Philippine flag before the decision was announced. Calderon may have retained his title by split technical draw but a rematch would be just.
The title bout was a supporting main event to the Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey welterweight title bout in Madison Square Garden in New York. Cotto escaped with a nail biting split decision win and remains in the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes.
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