After his arrival from LA three weeks ago, former World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight champion Rodel “Batang Mandaue” Mayol was expected to saunter in a long-awaited vacation.
But the pride of Mandaue City is not in a vacation mode as he immediately started training last week for his Sept. 22 clash against Mexican superflyweight champion Jose Alfredo Tirado in Baguio City.
Mayol, who sports a professional record of 32 wins, five losses, two draws with 22 knockouts, will return to the Shape-up Gym in Baguio on the second week of August to prepare for his upcoming tune-up fight at the Baguio City Convention Center to be handled by Gerry Penalosa’s Gerry Pens Promotions and GMA-7.
According to Mayol, a WBO Asia Pacific title is on the line but admits his his eyes are set on another championship bout against WBA flyweight champion Hernan “Tyson” Marquez (34-2,25 KOs). The fight was originally scheduled early this year in Mexico but was later scrapped.
Instead, Marquez will fight Filipino Brian Viloria (38-3,18 KOs) in a unification bout for the WBA superflyweight and the WBO flyweight titles on Sept. 29 at the Home Depot in Carson, California.
“I will train hard for this fight so that I can earn another shot to fight Marquez or Viloria. I’ll have to win this first before I can pursue them,” said Mayol who is now on a five-win streak. “It also depends on Marquez if he still wants to fight me but I will do my best to finally make our fight happen,” added Mayol.
Tirado is hot on a four-win streak to improve his record to 27 wins, 11 losses and 19 knockouts.
Mayol is currently training at the Rex Wakee Salud Gym in Tisa, Labangon and at the Omega Gym in Mabolo. He expressed confidence of beating the Mexican champion but said he will first watch Tirado’s fight videos before picking his sparmates.