Cebuano fighter Rodel “Batang Mandaue” Mayol faltered for the second time in his world championship quest after he was knocked out in the eighth round by Mexican Ulises Solis, who retained his International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight title yesterday at the All-State Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
The two protagonists fought on even terms in the first four rounds until Mayol charged in starting in round five and did some damage on Solis’ left eye.
Mayol had Solis in trouble in round six. The Cebuano power-hitter landed a powerful left hook that sent the Mexican champion down on the mat, but the referee ruled it a slip. In that stretch, Solis was groping for form but was saved by the bell.
Solis, however, fired back in the seventh round where he hurt Mayol with solid shots to the head and body. After seeing an opening on his foe’s defense, Solis let loose a huge left and followed it up with a big right hand that rocked Mayol. The matched was stopped at 1:13 of round eight as Mayol can’t beat the count.
It was Solis’ fifth successful defense of the IBF crown he seized by beating American Will Grigsby by 12-round unanimous decision on January 7, 2006 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Solis improved his win-loss-draw record to 25-1-1 now spiked with 19KOs, while Mayol suffered his second defeat - all in world title bouts - in 25 fights dotted with 18KOs.
Mayol, a natural minimumweight contender who move up three pounds heavier just to challenge Solis, previously vied for the WBC 105-pound crown but lost by unanimous decision to Japan-based Thai Eagle Kyowa on April 6 last year at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
In the face of Mayol’s downfall, the Filipinos still have something to be happy about as Bernabe Concepcion and Mercito Gesta triumphed over their respective foes in the same card topbilled by David Diaz’s defense of his WBC lightweight belt against Erik Morales, who is seeking his fourth world title in different weight divisions (see separate story.)
The undefeated Concepcion (16-0-1, 10KOs) stopped Gabriel Elizondo (22-3, 10KOs) in the fourth round to win the North America Boxing Federation (NABF) super bantamweight crown. Concepcion mauled Elizondo in rounds three and four before the referee waved off the bout at 2:11 of the fourth.
Gesta, on the other hand, kept his unbeaten record intact with a hard-earned majority decision win over Carlos Madrid. Gesta, who is also a mixed martial arts practitioner, improved to 11-0-1 (3KOs), while Madrid fell to 8-4-2 (2KOs).