INQUIRER Sports

IT MIGHT HAVE been about 10 years ago when I first heard of Rodel Mayol, a promising boxer from Mandaue City.

I’m sure I heard his name from veteran mediaman Ronnie Nathanielsz, who covered all of Mayol’s fights for television and always spoke in superlatives about him. If I recall correctly, Mayol’s very first claim to fame was his winning the Oriental Pacific minimumweight title when he wasn’t even 20 years old.

Mayol was making waves then and it looked like he was really headed for the big time.

But, little by little, he dropped out of the limelight and was soon forgotten. Every now and then his name would pop up in conversations, but he really didn’t have any accomplishment big enough to hit the headlines. Pretty soon he faded from memory.

Ronnie tells me now that the boxer they dubbed “Batang Mandaue” was really good and had the potential to become great, except that he was not managed well. Thus, nothing came out of his boxing career until last Sunday.

“Aside from managerial problems, Rodel was having personal woes,” said Ronnie. “He was already married at the time and wanted to bring his young bride with him to Los Angeles where he was based. It took some time before he could do this and he got sidetracked by this problem.”

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Ronnie said Mayol did not vanish altogether from the boxing scene, although it might look that way to some people.

“What you really must admire about this guy is his determination,” said Ronnie. “He would not give up until he won. He made five attempts before he won Sunday’s World Boxing Council light flyweight title.”

And he won it fair and square, despite claims to the contrary by the camp of the dethroned champion, Edgar Sosa, who accused Mayol of headbutting him intentionally. That should have caused Mayol’s disqualification, the camp said.

Now that Mayol is back in the limelight, Filipinos will be waiting for his rematch with Sosa. Here’s hoping Rodel continues to play his cards right. He’s only 27.

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The invitation to the welcome party for Manny Pacquiao was sent to my address while I was in Taipei for a swim meet at the Taipei American School.

Hannah Dumaual said GMA 7 was hosting the celebration for the seven-division world champion with a grand show featuring the boxing icon and some of GMA’s biggest stars.

“You shouldn’t miss it,” Hannah said. “It will be held at the Atrium of the SM Mall of Asia and Manny has prepared a surprise number for everyone.”

No, I didn’t ask her the question you and I both wanted to ask.

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The first question I asked Hannah when I inquired about the welcome party days after I came back was, did Manny let the guests and the hosts wait that long, like he usually did.

I was surprised to get Hannah’s answer: “He arrived on time with wife Jinkee, their kids and Mommy Dionisia,” she said.

Manny serenaded everyone with his hit songs—the promised surprise number. The show, hosted by Carla Abellana and Arnel Ignacio, was aired live by the network, where Pacquiao has two top-rating shows: “Pinoy Records” and “Show Me Da Manny.”

“I thank God for all the blessings that He has given me,” Pacquiao said during the party. “This victory is not only for myself and my family, but for all Filipinos. Maraming salamat sa GMA Network at sa lahat ng Kapuso nating sumuporta at nagdasal para sa aking panalo.”