By Jake Donovan

Four months after having to be carried out on a stretcher after getting nailed with a left hook while on the canvas attempting to recover from a low blow, Rodel Mayol conceded his alphabet junior flyweight title on his feet after dropping a unanimous decision in his rematch with Omar Niño on Saturday evening.

The bout served as the main event of the last installment of “Top Rank Live” which aired from San Juan del Rio in Jalisco, Mexico.

Mayol did a much better job of protecting himself at all times, boxing smartly and never quite allowing Niño to plant his feet and load up in the early rounds. Both fighters had their moments, with Niño landing the harder shots but Mayol offering superior ring generalship.

In what has become a recurring theme in fights involving the Filipino junior flyweight, headbutts came early and often. Mayol was docked a point early in the second round for a headbutt and also received an additional warning later in the round.

Niño’s most effective weapon was his left hook, and drew raucous cheers anytime it landed. The problem was that it didn’t land often enough, as Mayol would always quickly recover, step back and land jab-right hand combinations to maintain his desired distance.

Yet another headbutt occurred midway through the fifth round, opening a cut outside of Niño’s left eye. Mayol overcommitted on a right hand, missing with the punch and pitching forward where the two banged heads.

Action resumed after a brief assessment by the ringside physician, but was once again interrupted when Niño strayed low with a punch, drawing a warning from referee Hector Afu, who earned his paycheck and then some on this night.

Things only got worse for Niño, who suffered another cut over his right eye midway in the seventh round. Time was once again called so the ringside physicians could examine, but the show once again went on.

With cuts over both eyes, it was thought that Niño would fight with a greater sense of urgency, but it was Mayol who picked up the pace late in the seventh, dialing in with his jab and right hand. Niño never stopped trying, but loaded up on and telegraphed most of his return fire, allowing Mayol to easily dart out of harm’s way and escape relatively unscathed every time out.

It turned out that Niño was just saving up for the next round.

The crowd was finally given reason to come alive in the eighth, when consecutive left hooks left Mayol momentarily buzzed. Niño let his hands go in his greatest efforts to follow up, landing enough telling blows to remain in control, but never quite finding the home run shot. Mayol had the wherewithal by rounds end to punch back, but mainly in reaction mode more so than the effectiveness with which he threw and landed in prior rounds.

Niño couldn’t have picked a better time to rally; open scoring (which is commonplace both in Mexico and in bouts featuring a WBC belt at stake) had the Mexican ahead on the cards heading into the prior four rounds of the bout.

While there are many in the sport who absolutely despise open scoring, the crowd on hand didn’t seem to mind, chanting “Me-Xi-Co” throughout the ninth, although it proved – or at least, appeared – to be a solid recovery round for Mayol, whose jab once again found a home.

That very weapon carried over into the 10th, though Niño was quick to counter with his left hook. The two fighters once again banged heads, though the action went uninterrupted.

Things picked up in the championship rounds, with Niño enjoying early success with his jab before Mayol was able to regain his composure and momentum. The crowd wildly cheered anytime Niño threw a punch, but it was the defending titlist landing the cleaner blows.

Niño’s corner went to work prior to the final round, attempting to minimize the amount of blood drizzling out of both of his cuts. Their efforts were for naught, as a Mayol right hand early in the round left the Mexican with a stream of plasma running down his face. Chants of “Niño” picked up as the round and fight wound down to a close, with both fighters enjoying moments of success prior to the final bell.

Mayol raised his arms at fights end in a symbol of victory, but it was anyone’s best guess if he did enough over the final four rounds to impress the judges enough to swing the fight back in his favor.

According the three officials, it wasn’t.

Whether or not Niño deserved to win isn’t necessarily the question; his efforts were certainly admirable enough. The margin of victory, however, was perhaps cause  to have the road-warrior Mayol reconsider ever again marching into an opponent’s backyard without hesitation.

Scores of 115-112, 115-111 and a shockingly wide 117-109 were hardly suggestive of the tightly contested action that took place throughout. Nevertheless, it makes Niño a two-time titlist, improving overall to 29-3-2 (11KO) and extending his unbeaten streak to five fights.

Mayol, Filipino-born but now fighting out of Los Angeles, falls to 26-5-2 (20KO) as he has now won just one bout in his past five fights, all taking place within a span of 53 weeks.

UNDERCARD

Tough-as-nails super flyweight contender Tomas Rojas won his second straight fight since a failed bid at the linear crown last December against Vic Darchinyan. The Mexicano was on the right side of a six-round beatdown against Colombian journeyman Felipe Almanza.

The fight was never competitive, as Rojas remained in control throughout. Almanza tried his hardest to make it a fight, but was completely overwhelmed and was unable to come out for the seventh round.

Rojas advances to 34-12-1 (24KO) with the win, as he seeks what will perhaps be a final title shot if he’s able to win often enough to get back to that point. Almanza is now officially a .500 fighter, dropping his second straight as he falls to 17-17-4 (8KO).

Falling under the “one to keep an eye on” category, teenaged knockout artist Adrian Young scored his ninth knockout in as many fights with a third round stoppage over Arturo Delgado.

Young, only 17 years old, turned pro last May and has been knocking ‘em out ever since. The Mexican has never been extended beyond the third round, and is well on his way to helping extend the tradition of notable fighters to come out of Los Mochis, Mexico.

A step up in competition is expected to follow, but for the moment it’s hard to argue against perfection. Young improves to 9-0 (9KO) with his fourth win of 2010; Delgado falls to 3-6 (1KO), having now lost three straight.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.