WBC orders rematch between champ Mayol, challenger Niño

The World Boxing Council (WBC) has ratified the outcome of last month’s abbreviated title bout between Filipino light-flyweight champ Rodel Mayol and Mexican challenger Omar Niño Romero but ordered their immediate rematch. Mayol and Romero figured in an ugly bout that was stopped in the third round after the Mexican hit the Filipino champ with a low blow and unleashed a foul left hook that knocked the Cebuano-born fighter out cold. Ring officials had ruled the bout as a technical draw, allowing Mayol to keep the WBC 108-lb belt.

Niño’s representative, Hector Garcia, has appealed to the WBC to rule on the contested fight. “The World Boxing Council has unanimously voted to ratify the decision announced last Saturday February 27th, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, being the result of the bout a technical draw and ordering a direct and immediate rematch between Rodel Mayol and Omar Niño," the WBC resolution read. In explaining the decision, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said the boxing body applied rule WC-3 # 16 of the Rules and Regulations for WBC World Championship Fights, which states that “In the event that, at the discretion of the referee, it becomes impossible to continue the bout, the result of the bout will be a Technical Draw or Decision depending on the round in which the fight was stopped." In the case of the Mayol-Niño showdown, referee Vic Draculich waived off the showdown in the third stanza, one short of the required rounds for a halted fight to go to the scorecards. The WBC has also given the camps of the two fighters five days to submit a written confirmation of their participation in the WBC-ordered rematch. “If Rodel Mayol declines to directly fight Omar Niño, the title will be declared vacant. If Omar Niño declines to fight Rodel Mayol in a rematch, the World Boxing Council will name a substitute fighter in accordance with the World Boxing Council Rules and Regulations," the WBC said. Mayol, who went out of the ring in that fight on a stretcher, has earlier expressed his desire to have a Round 2 with Niño, vowing to knock him out the next time. The 27-year-old Mayol, a fighter belonging to Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions stable, won the WBC 108-lb strap last November after his second-round TKO of long-time Mexican titlist Edgar Sosa last November in Chiapas, Mexico. His promoter Pacquiao was even reported to be interested in promoting Mayol-Niño II himself. - GMANews.TV