MANILA, Philippines – Unbeaten Milan Melindo shone brightest among four Filipinos pitted against foreign opponents as he knocked out Korean flyweight champion Jin Man Keon with a dazzling three-punch combination at 0:43 of the second round in a glitzy Las Vegas-style atmosphere at the Pacific Ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu City last Saturday night.
Melindo, 22, brought down Jin with a flurry consisting of an overhand right, left uppercut and right hook to the temple. Jin, who held his ground in a close first round, fell in a daze and took the 10-count from referee Teddy Alivio without bothering to get up. He kept rubbing his eyes with his boxing gloves while sitting on the canvas, indicating some difficulty in focusing. Melindo?s vicious assault clearly spun cobwebs in Jin?s head.
There was no question Melindo was the most impressive finisher in the ALA Promotions? card dubbed ?Philippines vs the World.? The other winners were featherweight Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista over Mexico?s Alejandro (Zorrito) Barrera by a technical knockout at 1:14 of the fourth, lightweight Jimrex (The Executioner) Jaca over Mexico?s Pipino Cuevas Jr. by a knockout at 2:22 of the first and former IBF minimumweight titlist Florante Condes over Indonesia?s Sofyan Effendi by a unanimous eight-round decision.
Bautista, 24, came out smoking in the opening round and stunned Barrera with a left hook to the jaw, forcing the Mexican to clinch. Barrera, taking advantage of his length, threw punches with a wide wind-up and appeared to hurt Bautista with liver shots. In the second stanza, both fighters banged away from close range and Barrera took a slight edge with his counterpunching as Bautista?s defense opened up in coming forward. Bautista pressed the attack in the third and repeatedly hammered Barrera with combinations to the face to regain control.
Barrera, 30, spat out his mouthpiece at the height of Barrera?s onslaught in the third. Referee Tony Pesons allowed Barrera?s cornermen to wash the mouthpiece but there was an added delay when the gumshield was dropped to the floor, raising speculation of a deliberate ploy to buy the Mexican time to recover from Bautista?s relentless bombardment.
In the fourth, Barrera lost his mouthpiece again, causing another interruption in Bautista?s attack. It was evident Barrera was just hoping to survive. When action was resumed, Bautista charged in with both fists churning. As they traded toe-to-toe, Barrera pulled back with a bad cut over his right eye. Pesons called in ringside physician Dr. Jose Unabia who examined Barrera?s gash and advised the referee to stop it.
A TV replay showed Bautista?s head colliding with Barrera?s left cheek but it was not relevant to the outcome because the cut was over the right eye. Pesons ruled the cut was caused by a legitimate blow and Bautista was declared the winner by technical knockout.
?I thought Boom Boom looked a little stiff, trying to score a knockout,? said ALA Promotions owner Tony Aldeguer. ?He told me he was never groggy, that Barrera never hurt him. We didn?t know Barrera?s style entering the fight because they never gave us a tape. On the other hand, Barrera knew Boom Boom?s style. You can access his fights on YouTube. But it was just a matter of time before Boom Boom knocked him out. Barrera spat out his mouthpiece twice and they even caused more delay by dropping it outside the ring. The referee should?ve penalized Barrera a point for doing that.?
Jaca, 27, had no problem landing his left on Cuevas who showed no resistance against the hard-hitting southpaw. Cuevas was a sitting duck for Jaca?s jarring left straight. Cuevas started seeing stars the moment Jaca connected with his first left straight down the middle, smack on the Mexican?s nose. Jaca couldn?t miss with the left and as he moved in to pin Cuevas along the ropes, uncorked another left straight to the face. Cuevas got it flush and went down on his back. Referee Ben Necessario counted him out at 2:22 of the first.
?We?ve always known Jaca to be a strong puncher even as Cuevas didn?t turn out to be a top-grade opponent,? said Aldeguer. ?Cuevas made the mistake of mixing it up.?
Condes, 30, broke out of a 14-month layoff to floor Effendi once en route to scoring a unanimous decision. Although the Indonesian didn?t take a single round, Condes was far from impressive. He kept hitting below the belt and a low blow prevented a possible knockout in the sixth. Effendi was decked by Condes but got a break when after getting up, was struck south of the border and took over a minute to rest.
?We?re a bit disappointed with Condes,? said Aldeguer. ?He arrived in Cebu without a trainer. We couldn?t monitor his training and he just got married. Next time, we?ll require him to train in Cebu if he wants to fight in our promotions. He was huffing and puffing and couldn?t finish off Effendi.?
In the seventh, Effendi hardly threw a punch but Condes couldn?t put him away. Still, it was a decisive victory for Condes who raised his record to 24-5-1, with 20 KOs. The three judges ? Salven Lagumbay, Edward Olala and Edwin Barrientos ? all scored it a shutout, 80-71.
