Mayol Heads to Mexico With No Fight Contract; IBF Championship Vs Sanchez Still Unsanctioned
By Winchell Campos
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 20 Sep 2012
LOS ANGELES, CA--Desperate Rodel Mayol, in the twilight of his career, will leave for Mexico Thursday with not much choice but to fight despite not having a fight contract again.
Team Mayol was set to fly out earlier today, Wednesday, but had to reschedule as flight schedules got messed up.
Mayol has decided to issue another challenge for a world title, this time against Juan Carlos Sanchez, the young and new IBF super flyweight champion defending his title in his own backyard for the first time.
The fight, set on Saturday, Sept. 22 in Los Mochis, Mexico, and has yet to be officially sanctioned by the International Boxing Federation, which has been waiting for the submission of a fight contract to protect everyone involved in this championship, but to no avail.
"Bahala na, kuya, lalabanan na namin ito at sana maibigay na nila ang kontrata sa lalong madaling panahon," said the former champion Mayol, who has been luckless in the past attempts to win another world title. Last March 24, Mayol traveled with his handler Michael Koncz and his team to Sonora, Mexico to challenge for the WBA flyweight crown held by Hernan "Tyson" Marquez.
History would have it that Marquez failed to make the "contracted" weight in full view of WBA officials who allowed themselves to get fooled and apparently corrupted by magicians and crooks at the weigh-in. Mayol protested and did not agree to the terms of new negotiations in the ensuing hours to have him fight Marquez, who, in the first place, should have been stripped of the title but was miraculously saved by WBA officials in full view of Team Mayol members which included Raides "Nonoy" Neri and Jeremiah "Muray" Quijano, and Koncz. The whole show got saved from further disarray by clueless, shameless and insensitive Filipino Richie Mepranum, who subbed in the last minute for more money in a non-title contest.
Wittingly or unwittingly, Koncz has been making a killing out of this malpractice.
Koncz, who then failed to secure or produce a simple fight contract for Mayol against Marquez, has failed to produce another one this time around. Like many fighters before him, Mayol is fighting not being guaranteed and not knowing how much money is on the table, in clear violation of the Muhammad Ali Act of boxing which became popular when pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao was paid for fighting for peanuts, when he should have been getting more from TV rights and other revenue sources. The Mayol fight is apparently to be shown on TV in the Philippines and in Mexico.
A check with Koncz Tuesday indicated that he was having problems trying to talk to Fernando Beltran, who apparently did not have time to discuss the Mayol fight details because they were busy with the Pacquiao-Marquez Media Tour.
"What the f&%k (expletive) is Winchell meddling with Rodel's affair?" went Koncz's text message to Neri, apparently putting pressure on Mayol's coach to distance himself with this writer. A check with Lyndsey Tucker, championhips chair of the IBF, confirmed that nothing has been submitted to their office since they have been asking for one more than a week ago. Neri, on his part, said that all they need to do right now is to concentrate, not get distracted and win the fight, with or without a contract.
"Please tell Sean Gibbons (promoter) to have the contract submitted as soon as possible," said Tucker, in a phone conversation with this writer Tuesday afternoon.
"Hindi na bumabata si Rodel. Kailangan na niya maging champion ulit," said Neri, fully aware that without a contract, nothing is guaranteed and nobody is protected. There is no word yet on the Philippine's Games and Amusements Board (GAB) in hopes of protecting a Filipino boxer from promoters and managers out to make a killing as in the case of Pacquiao almost a decade ago.
Mayol, 31, has received his own share of bum decisions and results in the past. He was not paid a single cent for his efforts in his preparations for the Marquez fight.
Koncz, who doubles as Pacquiao's aide d' camp, and is currently traveling with him to New York and Mexico City, has dealt with Mayol with no respect and often raises his voice and hurls expletives to gain the upper hand in conversations which should have been cordial and respectful, especially that Mayol should be his boss and not the other way around.
Koncz talks to this writer with smiles on his face but with his text to Neri Tuesday afternoon, it is apparent that he bites when someone is turning his back. Koncz still has to present Mayol all the nitty-gritties of a contract and show Mayol fairness and justice as to how much will the promotion earn for both champion and challenger as mandated by the Muhammad Ali Act.
"I will fly out to Los Mochis on Friday," said Koncz. In another interview with a different writer, Koncz was expected to be in Los Mochis on Saturday, the same day of the Mayol-Sanchez fight.
Mayol is fighting a tall and lanky Sanchez, who wrested the IBF title from compatriot Juan Alberto Rosas by a controversial decision.
Sanchez, 10 years younger than Mayol, has a 14-1 win-loss record. He is taller by more than four inches than Mayol, five-foot-four, and a veteran of 38 fights, with 31 wins, five losses and two draws.
Mayol (2nd from right) and Marquez at a presscon during their aborted fight early this year in Mexico.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Winchell Campos.
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