By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Undefeated WBC No. 1 and OPBF minimum  weight champion Rodel Mayol is eager to fight for the world title held by Japan-based Thai Eagle Kyowa within the next few months following his spectacular victory over Mexico’s Lorenzo Trejo in a world title  eliminator Sunday in the tourist resort of Cancun, Mexico.

One week to the day after Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao demolished legendary Mexican Erik “El Terrible” Morales, Mayol hammered Morales’ fighter and Tijuana native Trejo, decking him in round one and eventually putting him away at 2:29 of round four with a vicious left.

In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Games and Amusements Board chairman Eric Buhain who was at special ringside described the performance of Mayol as “fantastic.” He said Mayol “was great and is now such a hero here, he gets more requests for autographs than he gets in the Philippines. The Mexicans have given him a lot of respect after what happened in the fight.” Buhain praised Mayol for his "very good heart and being very respectful."

Buhain said the Philippines is “on a roll and boxing is booming ” especially  after Pacquiao’s demolition of Morales. The GAB chairman expressed the hope that WBO No. 4 and OPBF No.1 super flyweight Z “The Dream” Gorres  WBO Asia Pacific junior lightweight champion Czar Amonsot will continue the winning streak when they battle Mexican opponents at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas  this weekend. Buhain said he will watch the fights and help give the Filipino boxers a  boost. Gorres battles Alfredo Tirado while Amonsot faces a hard-hitting Mexican with an unlikely name, Antonio Wong.

Mayol’s handlers, respected Japanese businessman-sportsman Yasuo Matsuoka and his charming Filipino wife Gina said they were flying to Tokyo with Mayol to watch stablemate Malcolm Tunacao (19-2-2, 13 ko’S) defend his newly-won  OPBF bantamweight title on Sunday in Nagoya  against undefeated Kohei Ohba (13-0, 8 KO’s) on the same card where Randy Suico (23-2, 20 KO’s) will defend his OPBF super featherweight title against Ryuhei Sugita (30-2-2, 22 KO’s) , before returning to Manila on February 9th or 10th.

Chances are strong that the title fight between Mayol and Kyowa will be held in Japan unless it goes into a purse bid and a Philippine promoter wins the purse bid which, at this time, seems unlikely. Mayol has  been longing to fight for the world title and even before the title eliminator against Trejo expressed confidence he would win. Reports from Cancun said Mayol impressed fight fans with his speed and power.

The undefeated Mayol improved his record to 22-0 with 17 knockouts. Eagle Kyowa whose real name is Den Janlaphan has a record of 15-1 with 6 knockouts and in his last fight scored  a seventh round TKO over Ken Nakajima who was beaten by Mayol early in the Filipino’s ring career. The world champion has beaten three Filipinos in the past – Elmer Gejon, Fabio Marfa and Noel Tunacao.