MANILA, Philippines – The lopsided margins in the judges? scorecards weren?t indicative of what went on in the ring when Mexico?s Juan Francisco Estrada outpointed previously unbeaten Milan Melindo of Cagayan de Oro to retain his WBO/WBA flyweight title at the Cotai Arena in the Venetian Resort Macau last Saturday.
Even Estrada?s cornermen thought the fight was closer than how the judges saw it. ?If we lose, we lose and if we win, we win,? said ALA Boxing chairman Tony Aldeguer from his Cebu home yesterday. ?No alibis. We lost it in the last two rounds. We didn?t think Estrada would fight that way. He fought differently when he beat (Brian) Viloria. We were prepared to throw short counter punches to the body. We were surprised by how he fought. Estrada did what he had to do to win, he fought a smart tactical fight. No doubt, he was the better man that night.?
After the fight, Estrada?s cornermen Juan and Orlando went to Melindo?s dressing room. ?They think Estrada had a harder time with Milan than Viloria or (Roman) Gonzalez and Milan will become a world champion soon,? said Melindo?s trainer Edito Villamor. ?We didn?t fall short of stamina. We trained just right but one punch turned the fight around.?
Estrada, 23, and Melindo, 25, appeared to be battling on even terms when in the 11th round, the Mexican dropped the Filipino with a right to the jaw. Melindo was badly shaken but managed to survive. In the final round, Estrada went all out for a stoppage. Melindo held on and Estrada had to settle for a win by a unanimous decision. Japanese judge Takeshi Shimakawa scored it 117-109 while Hungarian judge Zoltan Enyedi and Texan Rafael Ramos both saw it 118-109, all for Estrada. Aldeguer said the scorecards were unbelievable. The Star scored it for Estrada, 115-112.
?Milan took it to Estrada in the early rounds and staggered him with killer blows,? said Aldeguer. ?He never backed down. I heard Bob Arum and George Foreman thought Milan was even ahead before the knockdown. The greatest accolade came from Estrada?s camp, admitting they couldn?t do to Milan what they did to Viloria. They took advantage of their size against Milan who was shorter and smaller. Milan proved himself a worthy challenger. He went after Estrada who boxed from long range but couldn?t catch him.?
Aldeguer said a rematch is out of the question at the moment. ?We?re not in a position to demand a rematch, first because Milan was knocked down and second, there is no rematch clause,? said Aldeguer. ?My son Michael has plans to promote in California, maybe set up a gym so we get good sparring from Mexicans since Tijuana is just across San Diego. We?re learning that in boxing today, it?s more than just training in the gym, it?s also nutrition, conditioning, what you eat. We want to raise the bar. Perhaps, our next step is to bring Milan, Genesis (Servania) and A. J. (Banal) to the US for training.? Dean’s Corner ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
Servania, 21, scored a split technical decision over Japan?s Konosuke Tomiyama in the undercard. Servania decked Tomiyama once in the first but went down himself twice in the same round. In the third, Servania floored Tomiyama again. An accidental clash of heads left a deep gash in Servania?s left eyelid in the ninth, prompting referee Danrex Tapdasan to wave it off on the ringside physician?s advice. Surprisingly, Thai judge Sawaeng Taweekoon had it 85-84 for Tomiyama while Shimakawa scored it 87-82 and Filipino judge Salven Lagumbay 86-83 for Servania who kept his WBO Asia Pacific superbantamweight crown. Servania raised his record to 22-0, with 8 KOs.
?We could?ve picked a bum to fight Genesis but we wanted to put up a good fight for the fans,? said Aldeguer. ?We knew Tomiyama would be a dangerous opponent, he was an Oriental champion and once fought for the world title. I think Genesis has a good chance to make it all the way to the top. I just don?t understand how the Thai judge could score it for Tomiyama when the other two judges saw it for Genesis by wide margins. I think something has to be done to improve the scoring of our judges. It?s an injustice to boxing.?
Villamor said Melindo will take a two week rest before returning to the gym. ?We?ll review the video of the fight to see where Milan could improve,? he added. ?Milan will come back strong and become a world champion. We?ll wait for what Sir ALA and Sir Michael decide as to what?s next for Milan. We feel bad about the scoring because we know it was a much closer fight. We?re not ashamed of how Milan performed, it?s part of the learning process. We?re proud of Milan, he went 12 rounds with a great champion.?
Aldeguer congratulated Estrada for the win. ?Hats off to Estrada,? he said. ?We didn?t expect him to move like he did. Milan tried to go toe-to-toe at the start and caught him a few times but Estrada?s strong. We wanted to counter with body shots from close range. Estrada made it difficult for Milan to connect then threw that big shot to score the knockdown.?
Melindo?s record dipped to 29-1, with 12 KOs. Estrada raised his mark to 25-2, with 18 KOs. His only losses were to Gonzalez in a foiled bid for the WBA lightflyweight title last November and to Juan Carlos Sanchez, now the IBF superflyweight champion, on an eight-round decision in 2011. From his showing, Aldeguer said he expects Estrada to enjoy a long reign in the 112-pound division.
