Pinoy champs wait for bids

MANILA, Philippines – Two reigning Filipino world boxing champions are waiting for offers to defend their titles but both Rodel Mayol and Donnie Nietes will keep busy in the gym despite no firm offers on the table at the moment.

 Mayol is closer than Nietes in signing a fight contract as he has been ordered by the WBC to stake his 108-pound crown against Mexico ‘s Omar Nino Romero in a rematch. Last Feb. 27, Mayol took a sucker punch on the jaw after referee Vic Drakulich called a halt to the action for a low blow by Romero and couldn’t continue in a controversial ending in Guadalajara. The bout was declared a technical draw at 2:19 of the third round.

“I’m back in the gym,” said Mayol from Los Angeles in a long distance phone call yesterday. “I just called (business manager) Michael Koncz (who is in General Santos City) and he told me he’ll contact WBC president Jose Sulaiman on how to proceed in negotiating the rematch. I think it will be in May or June. I’m hoping MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions wins the purse bid. I reported for training at the Wild Card Gym last week so I’m staying in shape.”

Mayol, 28, said it’s tough trying to defy the odds in Mexico.

“I’d rather fight Romero in the Philippines or if not, in Las Vegas or Los Angeles,” said Mayol. “Michael will also be negotiating with Fausto Garcia who is Edgar Sosa’s manager because we gained two options after winning the title. We’ve used one option so far in the defense against Romero so we might exercise the second option and dictate where and when the fight will be held.”

Mayol halted Sosa to wrest the WBC lightflyweight crown in Chiapas, Mexico, last November. Sosa has since moved up to campaign in the flyweight division.

Mayol said Romero should’ve been disqualified for throwing a punch when he was defenseless. Drakulich was on the verge of stepping in between the fighters but Romero blasted Mayol before the referee could intervene. Romero had just hit Mayol below the belt, prompting the Filipino to turn away with Drakulich motioning a ceasefire. With Mayol’s hands down, he was an easy target for Romero.

“I’m not afraid of Romero,” said Mayol who won the WBC crown in his fifth bid for a world title. “Next time, I’ll give him only three rounds and it’s over. In our first fight, I told my trainer (Jesse Arevalo) I would wait five rounds, tire him out then go for the kill. I noticed in the third round, he started to get frustrated and kept coming in which was how we planned to counter attack.”

Mayol said he blacked out when Romero landed the left hook.

“I didn’t fake it,” he went on. “He hit me when I wasn’t looking but in a fair fight, I can take him. I just blacked out when he threw the left hook and when I woke up, I was still on the canvas with the doctor examining me. I couldn’t understand why they called it a technical draw. Romero should’ve been disqualified like Abe Concepcion when he hit Steven Luevano after the bell and Luevano couldn’t continue.”

Mayol said if not a disqualification, he would’ve understood a no-contest but a technical draw was highly questionable.

“I was the aggrieved party yet Romero’s camp protested the outcome, insisting I should’ve lost by knockout,” said Mayol. “When we fight again, I’ll make sure Romero won’t last three rounds.”

Nietes, 27, won the vacant WBO minimumweight diadem in 2007 and has since repulsed three challengers Eddy Castro, Erik Ramirez and Manuel Vargas. Last January, Nietes stopped Mexico’s Jesus Silvestre in the 10th round of a non-title fight at the Cuneta Astrodome to raise his record to 26-1-3, with 15 KOs. Silvestre was a late substitute for challenger Ivan Meneses and couldn’t qualify as a challenger because he’s not ranked in the top 10.