Melindo falls short in world title bid

SINGAPORE — Previously unbeaten flyweight standout Milan “Method Man” Melindo (28-1, 11 knockouts) dropped a wide unanimous decision loss to defending champion Juan Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada (23-2, 17 knockouts) of Mexico Saturday night, July 27, at the Venetian Resort and Casino in Macau.

It was Melindo’s first career defeat after stringing together 28 straight fights impressively without a loss.

The scores read at the end of 12 rounds did not depict the close nature of the fight, as it played out like a tactical chess match all throughout.

Close fight

Melindo put on a boxing exhibition in the first few rounds, before fatigue inevitably set in as the well-conditioned Estrada clawed his way back into the fight. It was clear that Melindo had the upper hand when it came to technique and that Estrada’s only advantage was his sheer grit and aggression.

Melindo often found the mark, as expected from one of ALA gym’s most technically sound pugilists. ‘Method Man’ made his Mexican dance partner miss bad and miss often, and had his opponent constantly on the back foot.

But just as Melindo was masterfully maneuvering his opponent around like a pawn, things turned around quickly when a cut opened up on Melindo’s left eye in the 7^th round. Estrada then focused on the damaged area, looking to make the situation worse.

Melindo, who was fighting the biggest fight of his career, could hardly overcome the unfortunate turn of events and looked visibly gassed out. Estrada, known for his insane work-rate and non-stop attack, took advantage of his exhausted foe and poured the hurt on Melindo and even dropped the Filipino in the 11^th round. Melindo survived but the fight was slipping away from him.

Melindo fought valiantly to the end and more than held his own, but the decision was read in favor of the defending champion. The judges scored the bout 118-109 (twice) and 117-109 all for the winner by Unanimous Decision, Juan Francisco Estrada.

Earlier in the year, Estrada lifted both the WBA and WBO Flyweight titles over another Filipino, Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria at the very same venue. Melindo vowed to avenge Viloria’s loss but failed in his first world title bid. With the win, Estrada retained both world flyweight titles and Melindo suffered the first loss of his young career.

Other results

Dave “The Hunter” Penalosa (7-0, 5 knockouts) defeated his Thai opponent Ngaotawa Sithsaithong (10-11-1, 5 knockouts) by knockout when he delivered a crushing left uppercut to the jaw during round 3 of 4.

Penalosa, along with brother Dodie Boy “Dugong Kampeon” Penalosa Jr., are noteworthy Filipino boxing prospects with undefeated records and a mean streak. Both fighters are trained by their father, Dodie Boy Penalosa and uncle, Gerry “Fearless” Penalosa, former world champions.

Another great young fighter, Genesis “Azucal” Servania (22-0, 8 knockouts) survived an all-out war against Japanese opponent Konosuke Tomiyama, winning by Technical Split Decision in the 9^th round scheduled for 10.

Servania sent Tomiyama to the ground in round one, but the Japanese fighter returned the favor by flooring Servania twice in the same round shortly after. Servania once again dropped his opponent in round three and the action continued at the same pace for most of the way.

The bout came to a halt in the 9^th round when Servania suffered a cut from an accidental head butt. Two judges scored the fight in favor of Servania 87-82, 86-83 while one judge had it 85-84 for Tomiyama.

In the main event, two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming (2-0, 0 knockouts) notched a highly technical 6-round unanimous decision over Mexican opponent Jesus Ortega (3-2, 1 knockout).

Shiming used his Olympic-class skill set to out maneuver Ortega, but once again failed to knockout his adversary. This was just Shiming’s second professional bout, yet both of his fights featured as main events, lending to the rise of boxing in China. – Rappler.com