By Dave Lahr: This Saturday night, number #1 ranked WBC challenger Omar Nino (28-3-2, 11 KO’s) will make his second attempt at taking the World Boxing Council light flyweight title from champion Rodel Mayol (26-4-2, 20 KO’s) in a rematch at the San Juan del Rio, Queretaro, Mexico. Nino, 34, previously fought to a 3 round technical draw with the 28-year-old Mayol in February, despite appearing to knock Rodel out in the 3rd round after clocking him with a beautiful left hand to the head. There’s a saying in boxing, ‘always protect yourself at all times.’

In the 3rd round of that fight, Nino landed a right hand that dipped just a tad low on Rodel. Instead of continuing to fight, Rodel stopped and looked at the referee to see if he was going to warn Nino. It was the wrong move to make, because it left Rodel vulnerable at that moment. Rather than waiting around, Nino blasted Rodel with a huge left to the head that knocked Rodel out. Since the referee didn’t stop the action after Nino landed the punch that landed low, it was perfectly reasonable for Nino to keep fighting.

I had this as a clear knockout win for Nino, because the action wasn’t stopped in time and Rodel had stopped fighting. However, the fight was eventually ruled a technical draw instead of a win for Nino. I don’t agree at all with the decision because the referee hadn’t stopped the action, so any punches that were scored before then should have counted as a continuation of the action.

But whatever the case, the two fighters will meet in a rematch on Saturday night in Mexico. I’m wondering if Rodel will be able to stay upright in this fight. He was badly hurt in the last fight and with a knockout like the one that he suffered there’s a good chance that Rodel could have lingering effects. He had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher. That’s how bad he was hurt. It’s been four months since that fight and that could be far too soon if Rodel suffered any lasting effects from the concussion he suffered in that fight. For that kind of a bad knockout, you would think that Rodel would need at least six months or more to recover to let his head clear.

Rodel showed good power in the first two rounds of the fight, but didn’t look so good when he was getting hit hard by Nino. Rodel can really dish it out, there’s no question about that. But I do wonder whether his chin is up to the task for this fight. Nino hits hard and Rodel did get badly hurt in their last fight on February 27th. This bout could be coming too soon for Rodel.