IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES TODAY: Mayol to defend WBC crown, Sonsona shoots for WBO title

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino fighters Rodel “Batang Mandaue” Mayol and Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona climb up the ring at different venues today, both bearing tough mission not only for personal glory but also for the country’s pride and prestige.

Mayol, a resident of Mandaue City who traces his roots from the busting southern Cebu town of San Fernando, will defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight title against mandatory challenge Omar “Giant Killer” Nino Romero in an exciting showdown at the Coliseo Olimpico de la UG in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

Sonsona, on the other hand, will go up against hometown idol Wilfredo “WV2” Vazquez, Jr. for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight crown at the Reben Rodriquez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Mayol holds a 26-4-1 win-loss record spiked with 20K, while Nino parades a 28-3-1 card also packed with 20KOs.

This will be Mayol’s first defense of the WBC belt he seized after dethroning Mexican Edgar Sosa via a stunning second round TKO on November 21 last year in Chiapas, Mexico.

Romero earned the right to challenge Mayol after defeating former Filipino world champion Juanito Rubillar by eighth round technical decision in their elimination bout on June 6, 2009 at the Parque Xcaret, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Meanwhile, the WBC issued a strong response to the statements made by Mayol and his handlers, who said that they are concerned that Mayol will not be treated fairly by the ring officials in his fight against Nino.

“The World Boxing Council is extremely disappointed to have read the statements made by Rodel Mayol and his camp in a published article. It is with deep regret that we have learned about the feelings of Mayol, of the Philippines, and the WBC will get to the bottom of these unfounded concerns, as we cannot understand his declarations,” said the WBC in an official statement.

“The WBC is a world organization, based in Mexico, and has supported Philippine boxing throughout the years. The Philippines have a strong foundation in the WBC, and Mr. Justiniano Montano of the Philippines was a past president of our organization. The WBC has gone all-out to implement rules to guarantee that justice prevails: All WBC world title fights are sanctioned with a neutral set of officials. For the record, Mayol has fought and lost three times for other organizations’ championships, and we wonder if those ring officials were from neutral countries?

“It is regretable that Mayol, who is a very nice and gentle person, could allow these irresponsible comments to be published on his behalf. His claims that the officials will hurt him and that he didn’t need to fight Niño have been explained in this statement, and the WBC is referring this matter to the WBC disciplinary committee to evaluate and rule if any actions will proceed to clarify these claims,” it further added.

Mayol, however, denied having made such sweeping statements while at the same time extending his sincerest apology to the WBC family under the dynamic leadership of Jose Sulaiman.

“I categorically deny certain statements that was alleged on that article and we wished someone checked on us before they were published. They would have gotten the correct story! I would like to apologize to the WBC for statements unfairly blamed on our team. My trainers, Jessie Arevalo and Morai Quijano never said that they do not trust the WBC. Neither did I. More apparently, we never questioned the integrity of WBC or question the honesty of the officials of the fight,” said Mayol in an official statement posted on philboxing.com.

“On the contrary, we have full trust in them and have no doubt that they will be totally fair.

Lastly, we would like to publicly thank WBC for the opportunities they gave us that allowed me to be a world champion. We will proudly carry their name as we move forward in my career.”