A REMATCH between newly-crowned World Boxing Council light flyweight champion Rodel Mayol and Edgar Sosa is unlikely as the Mexican was elevated by the WBC to the status of Emeritus Champion and will move up to flyweight once he is able to resume boxing.
But WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman said that the decision on whether to engage Mayol in a rematch was up to Sosa. The Mexican’s handlers are pointing out that when Sosa recovers from the severe injuries to his cheekbone, he could either fight Mayol or go after the WBC flyweight title.
But boxing writer and TV correspondent James Blears, who attended the news conference in Mexico City, quoted Sosa’s promoter Dr. Faustino Daniel Garcia as saying he was convinced the head-butt by Mayol that caused serious injuries was intentional.
“Sosa doesn’t want to fight Mayol again,” said the doctor as the Mexican fears “for the same thing to happen.”
The promoter said he favors going for the higher division flyweight title against “an honest, ordinary and clean fighter—the Japanese champion [Daisuke Naito].”
Sulaiman revealed that Sosa suffered a triple fracture to the cheekbone, affecting the orbit of the eye, the nose and his cheek.
“The three-hour operation he’s undergone has placed two titanium plates with screws holding them in his face, and he’ll be out of action for at least six months,” said the Sulaiman.
The WBC president who viewed the slo-mo replay after the fight conceded it was difficult to make a definitive conclusion stating “I saw Mayol threw the right hand and also went with the head down directly to the face of the fighter. So we don’t know if it was because of his style or because it was intentional. It looks intentional, because his head went directly from almost a yard, but at the same time, you could see his right hand was at the same distance as the head.”
