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MELINDO TO RECEIVE HERO?S WELCOME IN CAGAYAN DE ORO By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Wed, 10 Apr 2013 WBO No.1 flyweight contender and mandatory challenger to newly crowned flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico, ALA Promotions Milan Melindo will leave for his hometown of Cagayan de Oro on Thursday where he will be honored in a motorcade and given a hero?s welcome. Melindo scored a smashing 4th round stoppage of rugged Indonesian Tommy Seran on the undercard of the Brian Viloria ? Estrada title fight which Estrada won, setting up Melindo for a title shot which Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said would be in August also at the plush Venetian Resort Hotel Cotai Arena in Macau. Melindo dropped Seran three times en route to a 4th round TKO prompting Bob Arum to remark ?he?s a terrific fighter and you saw what kind of punching power he has.? Melindo who is scheduled to return to Cebu City from a two-week hometown holiday by April 24 to begin initial preparation for his expected showdown with Estrada. He told the Manila Standard ?Estrada couldn?t knock out Viloria and I can handle his power, I can handle him.? ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer who leaves for the US on April 24, plans to have WBO light flyweight champion Donnie Nietes, Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista, Genesis Servania and Jason Pagara leave for San Diego which has a large Filipino population, sometime in June to begin training for a planned July fight card in San Diego, California in partnership with ABS-CBN. Aldeguer told the Manila Standard that ?there?s a very good gym? where several fighters train and its only a 20 minute drive across the border to Tijuana where they can ?get good sparring partners.? The youthful Aldeguer said he would look for an apartment to house the boxers and would also ?look for a new conditioning coach? in the US because the ALA boxers will soon face some ?tough fights? beginning with the July card. ALA Promotions patron Tony Aldeguer told us that Bautista who has a real test in an April 20 ?Pinoy Pride? fight card in Davao City ?is for the first time injury-free.? He said Bautista ?has been training since his last fight (in which he won a twelve round split decision over David Ruiz on October 20, 2012) and is in good shape.? Bautista will battle 25 year old Mexican Jose Ramirez who has an impressive record of 24-3 with 15 knockouts. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz. |
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