A LOT of fans were apparently a bit disappointed (action-wise) during last Saturday?s main event at Pinoy Pride 16.
I don?t blame them, since we have been so used to seeing Milan Melindo methodically destroy his opponents before the final bell that the see-saw battle was deemed unpopular.
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Perhaps we have been so accustomed to seeing Milan end the bout prematurely, considering that in his last 7 fights, Milan has stopped six of his opponents.
But I actually enjoyed the fistic chess-match played atop the squared circle.
THE FIGHT. Milan isn?t a fast starter as he typically likes to feel out his opponent, but he landed a crisp left hook in the first round that had Perez wobbly.(I ran into the visiting team the next day at the hotel lobby and Perez confirmed this)
Milan also started landing some excellent body shots in the 3rd and 4th rounds, but Perez appeared to take them well.
Perez started getting his groove in the middle rounds as he found his range and peppered Milan with jabs and straights. Milan would respond with sizzling counters but the rounds were arguably close.
Perez became more accurate in rounds 8-10 as Milan was cut and his activity waned.
However, Milan picked up the pace in the championship rounds and forced the exchanges.
The scoring reflected the close nature of the proceedings as one judge had it a draw and the two others gave Milan margins of four and three points.
I though Milan was ahead by two or three rounds, but Perez? team thought their ward deserved the nod
THOUGHTS. Fights like these will always prove difficult to appreciate, let alone score.
There were no knockdowns and one fighter was busier but landed with innocuous punches while the other counterpunched and landed the harder, eye-catching shots.
Styles make fights and Perez? possessed a style that at times, proved to be difficult for Milan. Perez was cunning and calculating and made proper adjustments mid-fight.
He seemed to have an off-beat timing that had Milan discombobulated similar to Brian Viloria who had nightmares trying to solve Omar Nino Romero?s stutter step in the first two fights.
I thought Milan shaded most of the rounds, though not by much. Because of the 10-point-must scoring system, Milan emerged as a winner of majority of the rounds, but these rounds were close -mind you, but a winner for each round has to be picked
Ergo, I thought the judging was fair although the 4-point margin turned in by one judge might be a tad too wide.
This fight should be a valuable learning experience for Milan as he soldiers on in his quest for a ring glory.
MAYOL. My heart goes to Rodel Mayol who gave it his all but eventually ran out of steam in his quest for the IBF super flyweight title against Juan Carlos Sanchez in Sinaloa, Mexico.
It was an action-packed bout with Mayol trying to get inside the longer reach of Sanchez and forcing the exchanges.
Mayol?s aggressive approach netted him success as he scored a knockdown in the 5th round as he tagged an unsuspecting Sanchez with a left hook as he was coming in.
Unfortunately, Mayol withered and as is usually the case, faded badly and was caught by combo that had him hurtling through the ropes in the ninth round.
My distant relative from my mother?s side says he will soldier on, but if I have to be candid about it, the much dreaded gate-keeper status seems to be beckoning.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on my favorite ultra-runners on this planet, my bro Ramsey, sis-in-law Renee, Brandy Llenos and Joel Garganera for their insane feats in Singapore?s ultra-marathon event dubbed ?Craze Ultra are you nuts.? Cheers!
