Mayol loses WBC crown

CEBU, Philippines - Rodel Mayol's reign as the World Boxing Council light flyweight champion was shortlived after the Cebuano fighter was kicked out of his throne by Oscar Niño in their rematch yesterday topbilling the "Top Rank Live" card at San Juan del Rio in Queretaro, Mexico.

Niño dethroned Mayol by unanimous decision over 12 heats. The official scores were 115-112, 117-109, and 115-111.

It was a sweet redemption for Niño, whose previous fight with Mayol last February 27 at the Coliseo Olimpico de la UG in Guadalajara ended in bizzare fashion, with Mayol keeping his crown but had to carried out of the ring on a stretcher.

In that fight, Niño hammered Mayol with a low blow and before the referee could call for a timeout, the Mexican was able to sneak in a wicked left hook that flattened Mayol. The match was eventually declared a technical draw after three rounds.

This time around, Niño proved his real worth by landing better combinations and rocking Mayol with a flurry of punishing punches in round eight.

"It was a tough physical fight. Niño seemed to land the better combination of punches. He appeared to stun Mayol with a series of punches in a very strong round eight. Mayol was counter-punching more often then I've seen him in past fights but he missed a lot of his counters and smothered some of his punches by moving in as he punched. Niño did a much better job of boxing the second time around," noted Mark Vester of boxingscene.com.

Niño upped his record to 29-3-2 (11KOs), while Mayol slipped to 26-5-2 (20KOs). – THE FREEMAN