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Source: Dennis Principe, mb.com.ph

-- Rodel Mayol averted what would have been a bleak weekend for Philippine boxing by winning back for the country the World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight title Sunday in Mexico.

Already in his fifth attempt at a world crown, the 28-year-old Mayol (26-4-1, 20 knockouts) snatched the belt via second round technical knockout (TKO) win over longtime champion Edgar Sosa (37-6, 21 KOs) in a bout held in the champion’s turf of Chiapas, Mexico.

Mayol’s WBC crown was last held by current International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight ruler Brian Viloria who lost to Mexican Omar Romero back in 2006.

The win avenged the defeats suffered by three Filipino challengers who battled Sosa, including Viloria whom he fought for the vacant title in 2007.

Sosa was making the 11th defense of his crown in a span of 28 months.

Mayol, who fights under MP Promotions owned by pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, initially hurt Sosa with an accidental head butt.

The Mexican then got up on wobbly legs after being floored by a clean right straight in the second round. Mayol then went for the kill with a barrage of shots, forcing the referee to end the match.

Meanwhile, Mayol’s MP stablemate Sonny Boy Jaro was not as lucky as the Filipino got stopped in the opening round with a vicious body shot by Mexican Giovanni Segura held in a separate venue in Yucatan, Mexico.

In Canada, the highly-touted world super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona earned a 12-round split draw opposite Mexican foe Alejandro Hernandez after being stripped of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight crown.

During the weigh-in which was held in the morning of the scheduled 12-round fight, the 19-year-old Sonsona (14-0-1, 12 KOs) came in over the 115-lb limit.

Hernandez (22-7-2, 11 KOs) made the weight at exactly 115lbs.
The 19-year-old Sonsona, who hails from the same province as Pacquiao, used his advantage in skills in the early goings but Hernandez came back strong in the later rounds with body attacks.

It turned out that the Mexican’s effort was not enough as only one judge had him winning, 115-113. The second judge gave the fight to Sonsona with a similar 115-113 while the third had it 114-114 in a match held at the Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada.

“We already knew yesterday that Marvin won’t be able to make the weight so we informed the Canadian commission right away. But Marvin knew the importance of this fight as another title shot is in store for him in the super bantamweight division,” said promoter Gello-Ani in an overseas call with the Bulletin.

Apparently, Gello-ani was already anticipating that Sonsona won’t be able to make the weight for quite some time by admitting that he was already dealing with a shot at the WBO super bantamweight crown February of next year