Mayol to come up with new fight plan vs Romero's dirty tactics

Los Angeles, CA - When World Boxing Council light flyweight champion Rodel Mayol last entered the boxing ring, he ended the night flat on his back, staring into space in a Guadalejara, Mexico arena.

No, he wasn't the loser. In fact, some felt he should have been declared the winner.

In the third round of his encounter with Omar Nino Romero on February 27 of this year, the Mandaue City, Cebu native was on the wrong side of a low blow foul from the challenger.

Mayol ignored boxing's cardinal rule -- to protect yourself at all times -- and walked away to recover from the blow.

Sensing an opportunity, Romero leaped in and struck the defenseless Mayol with a devastating left hook before referee Vic Drakulich could intercede.

Confusion ensued as Mayol laid on his back for several minutes before being removed from the ring on a stretcher en route to a local hospital. Only after several minutes did the officials declare the fight a technical draw, enabling Mayol to retain his title.

"I feel it should have been a disqualification," said Jesus Arevalo, Mayol's head trainer.

"We watched the tape over again and you could tell that Romero heard the referee say stop because he paused a little bit after hitting him low. When he saw Mayol stand up and lower his guard, that's when he stepped on his foot and lunged in with that hook."

“I couldn't believe that the referee was counting him out because he was the one that said stop. I told the referee that it was an illegal blow. He said, 'Don't worry' and that's when he went to [WBC president Jose] Sulaiman and came up with the controversial technical draw," he added.

The Filipino pug is back in danger zone facing the Mexican slugger in a rematch right on his rival’s turf in Queretaro, Mexico. They clash on Saturday, June 19 (Sunday in Manila).

While Mayol, 26-4 (20 KO), explained that he was simply "surprised by that punch", Arevalo said that Mayol "was a little bit dazed." The trainer, however, doesn't believe there will be any lingering effects from the last fight.

Arevalo, a protégé of well-known boxing trainer and Manny Pacquiao’s favorite coach Freddie Roach, has been supervising the training of Mayol at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, CA.

Arevalo admitted that he overlooked the 34-year-old former champion the last time out, but won't make the same mistake twice.

"I think in the first camp, I might have underestimated Romero because of his age, knee problems and inactivity. I was hoping that he wouldn't be in as great shape. I see him and know he's not a worn-out fighter but that he's hungry," said Arevalo.

“We corrected some of those things by shortening Mayol's punches, they're a little more crisper. We worked on strength training. We trained a little more on countering also."

Arevalo said he also has made strides to prepare Mayol for what he calls Romero's "dirty tactics".

"If Romero does it again, Mayol knows how to deal with them."

The 28-year-old Mayol, a former accounting student at Southwestern University in Cebu, holds no grudges over the first fight.

"Sometimes the fight is like that," says Mayol, who is being promoted by Manny Pacquiao Promotions. "This time, I better be careful. Maybe he was frustrated in that round because I almost knocked him down in the second round. That's why he threw a low blow and a dirty punch."

"I know there are a lot of people that say he should be disqualified, but the WBC saw it like that. They just made it as a draw. It’s OK with me and I respect that."

Romero, 28-3-2 (11 KO), won the same belt that Mayol now holds in 2006 when he upset the previously unbeaten Brian Viloria.

Romero was subsequently stripped following the rematch with Viloria when he failed a post-fight drug test. He earned the title opportunity against Mayol by avenging a previous defeat to Mati City native Juanito Rubillar by technical decision last June.

Mayol said he is entering the rematch with a lot of confidence. He won the title with a second round TKO of Brian Viloria-conqueror Edgar Sosa last November in Mexico, but took exception to the criticism he received from detractors that claimed his win was a head butt-aided fluke.

"I think in the first fight, he was so worried about not head butting Romero that it threw him off," said Arevalo. "In training, I was trying to work with him on coming in and being able to work on that right uppercut but he was a little hesitant because he didn't want to be criticized for another head butt. I think that messed up with his head."

" I told him, he fought a clean fight and at the end, it was Romero who resorted to dirty tactics. I don't think Romero will change anything for this fight. I think he'll be even dirtier and do whatever he can to take away the belt, so we have to do everything to retain that belt."

While there is still much to be discovered about whether the first fight has hurt him, Mayol is more concerned with how it has helped him.

"Right now I know his punches. I know his style so I can handle it this time."