Melindo, Banal destroy foes

MANILA, Philippines - There’s no stopping ALA stalwart Milan ‘El Metodico’ Melindo in his path for a world title shot as he easily dispatched his Mexican opponent Rosendo ‘El Matador’ Vega via first round knockout in the main event of the ‘Pinoy Pride 4: Philippines vs. the World” the other night at the Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Known to be one of country's finest ring tacticians, the undefeated Melindo (24-0, 8KOs) showed his vast improvement in his power as he sent the Vega (17-7, 11KOs) down on both knees for good in the opening session.

As expected, the 33-year-old Mexican fighter came out aggressive and applied pressure to Melindo, but he was rocked from a short right from the Pinoy warrior for the first knockdown.

Vega got up and continued his attack but he got countered again by another right uppercut from Melindo, this time finally ending the bout as he reached the count of 10 by referee Bruce McTavish at 2:59 mark of the opening round.

“Giplano jud to namo tanan, expected jud to nako nga tumbahon nako to siya (Vega) sa round one,” said the ecstatic 23-year-old pride of Cagayan De Oro City.

But not like Melindo, ALA Promotions President Michael Aldeguer seemed surprised but felt impressed of his boxer’s performance showing that he is ready for a possible crack at a world title.

“I didn’t expect this fight to end early, but I saw that he (Melindo) has been really working hard on his power and it paid off,” said Aldeguer.

Aldeguer also stated that they will pursue their appeal to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) to give Melindo the opportunity to be the mandatory challenger for the flyweight crown currently held by South African Moruti Mthalane.

“We’ll just have to wait for the response from IBF for Milan to fight for the world title. So far, let's just see if unsa gyud ang mahitabo,” added Aldeguer.

Even Vega expressed his approval for Melindo's readiness to vie for the world title. “You got a world champion right there at Melindo. It took Daiki Kameda (WBA flyweight titlist) 10 rounds to beat me, while Melindo only finish me with one uppercut,” said Vega.

AJ “Bazooka” Banal (24-1, 19KOs) was equally impressive as he finished off Tanzanian Francis “Black Panther” Miyeyusho (29-9-2, 7KOs) three times in the second round to retain his WBO AsPac bantamweight belt.

Banal started the fight slow in the first round, but the pride of Brgy. Ermita unleashed a flurry of combinations finished with a right hook to the head to send Miyeyusho crashing into the mat.

The African champion tried to collect his senses but he was not able to beat the count of referee Danrex Tapdasan, who declared Banal the winner via knockout at at 2:02 of round two.

 It was a good outing for Banal, who is groomed to train by ALA Promotions in the United States under the tutelage of Mexican strategist Robert Garcia, who happens to be the mentor of WBO/WBC bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr.

In the supporting bout, OPBF flyweight champion Rocky Fuentes (30-6, 18KOs) won by unanimous decision after eight rounds against Indonesian Jemmy Gobbel (15-8, 12KOs). All the judges scored an identical 80-70 mark for Fuentes.

Davaoeño light welterweight prospect Romeo Jakosalem (12-4, 6KOs) survived two knockdowns in the third round on the way to score an eight round TKO of Canadian Steve Claggett (11-1, 6KOs).

Also, WBO AsPac bantamweight champion Kenichi Yamaguchi (17-1, 4KOs) fought with high spirit for a close unanimous decision win over Marjun Yap (14-6, 7KOs). (FREEMAN)