LAST Saturday night, Milan Melindo issued a definitive statement. With a masterful dismantling of the highly touted Carlos Tamara over 12 eventful rounds, ?El Metodico? has served notice that he is stepping up to the plate and staking his claim to the next great-Filipino-fighter tag.
THE FIGHT. From the initial salvo, Tamara was able to demonstrate that he had considerable speed by immediately establishing his jab and moving around the ring. However, Melindo countered Tamara?s speed with impeccable timing and this set the tone for most of the fight.
The protagonists did away with the quintessential feeling-out aspect in the first two rounds, both men immediately landed serious leather. In the second, Melindo rocked Tamara with a beautiful overhand right that had the latter hanging on for dear life.
Melindo?s money punch has always been that short crisp left uppercut and in the third round, just as the visiting Colombian threw a jab, he deftly stepped in and unloaded his best weapon.
It landed smack on Tamara?s chin and stopped him in his tracks. I?ve always believed that a well-placed uppercut is the most effective punch in boxing, and this held true on this night. The effect doesn?t often register immediately, but after a few seconds, the snapping, whiplash effect disturbs the fighter?s equilibrium.
Tamara?s eyes became glassy and his feet, heavy. So much so that in the next round, he couldn?t stick and move anymore and stood in front of Milan, inexplicably opting to engage in a phone-booth brawl.
Big mistake. He willingly walked into Milan?s office and Melindo was only too happy to welcome him with stinging hooks and more uppercuts.
The championship rounds saw more action from both, but Milan never faded down the stretch and was able to finish strong.
SCORING. In fairness, Tamara was with Milan the whole fight and landed his fair share of jabs and overhand rights. In the middle rounds, Milan was cut and this became a cause of concern as this seemed to embolden ?El Olimpico.?
But everytime Tamara primed his offensive pump, Milan countered effectively and scored with flurries of his own. The fact also that Milan was the consistent aggressor made him own most of the rounds, even though some were close.
Seated next to MMA fighter Sabah Fadai, and URCC?s Renault Lao, this Last Rounder scored the bout 98-92 for Milan.
ALA. Milan?s coming out party couldn?t have come at a better time for the fabled ALA Gym. Just recently, stablemate AJ Banal didn?t look too impressive in getting by Luis Perez via disqualification.
Michael Domingo did well in his last fight but he couldn?t sway the judges? minds in
losing a close unanimous decision win to local kid Vusi Malinga in South Africa.
Another more prominent stablemate, Rey ?Boom-boom? Bautista, failed to deliver convincingly in a TKO win over Mexican Alejandro Barrera caused by cuts. Ergo, they are having a rematch in January of next year.
VALIDATED. Milan doesn?t mind that it took him all this time to hog his share of the spotlight, but it looks like he may be worth the wait, after all.
He?s 22 years old and hasn?t been in too many wars. He?s not as speedy as Banal and doesn?t crack quite like Bautista, but he?s patient, methodical and cerebral.
Though he throws eye-catching combos from time to time, he?s not very flashy. But he executes very well and I?ll take that over gaudiness any day of the week. To complement his arsenal, he appears to possess the requisite stamina to go to war all night long.
His clinical one-sided domination of Tamara?who is the only fighter to stop Brian Viloria?has validated the rumor.
Milan Melindo is an excellent fighter, and the scary part is that he?s getting better.
LAST ROUND. It?s on my compa?ero, Atty. Allan Bacaltos, who was in town to catch the fight ringside. Cheers!
