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MELLIGEN IN THE MAIN EVENT OF ESPN2?S FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS By Rod Mijares PhilBoxing.com Wed, 29 Jun 2011  Mark Jason ?Mighty? Melligen from Bacolod City and one of ALA Boxing Promotions highly successful boxers and a legitimate prospect of Bob Arum?s Top Rank Promotions in America will be fighting for the biggest fight of his career in the main event of ?ESPN Friday Night Fights? on July 1, 2011 at the Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas. Melligen is the recent Filipino to fight in ESPN?s Friday Night Fights and more so in the main event. Prior to him is Bernabe Concepcion. This is it for Mark. His time to shine has come and what a better show and better exposure than to appear at the prestigious ?ESPN Friday Night Fights? that is broadcast all over America and Canada and to all other countries who subscribe to ESPN2. All he has to do is win and win convincingly. ESPN Friday Night Fights is a television boxing event that shows a series of live boxing events on Friday nights starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT at the American cable channel ESPN2 (channel 209 for DirecTV, 32 for Cox Cable and 144 for Dish Network in the Las Vegas area as far as the writer knows). The show is also being broadcast in high definition on ESPN2 HD and on Canadian television channel, TSN. Melligen (21, 2, 0, 14 KOs) who is supposed to square off with former world contender Freddy Hernandez of Mexico is going to face, instead, a better, gritty, tougher and dangerous opponent in Sebastian Andres Lujan (37, 5, 2, 23 KOs) of Argentina. Hernandez suffered a cut in his eyelid and has to beg out of the fight. Lujan who just fought in March and in May and defended his WBC Latino welterweight crown twice successfully is packed with an impressive resume and is eager to fight even in a short notice when called. A true professional, indeed. How impressive is his resume? Lujan defeated former world lightweight champion Jose Luis ?El Terrible? Castillo of Mexico in a unanimous decision. Castillo defeated great boxers like Joel Casamayor, Juan Lazcano and Julio Diaz but lost a close decision against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and fought two grueling matches against Diego Corrales. It goes without saying that Lujan is at par with all the boxers that Castillo has fought, lost to and defeated and just look who they are. They are boxing greats and now Melligen will be fighting Lujan. How dangerous is Lujan? He fought toe to toe with Antonio Margarito in their WBO welterweight championship bout until the 10th round when the referee had to stop the fight because Lujan was bleeding profusely in the ear. Margarito is a former WBO/IBF welterweight and WBC international light middleweight champion who just lost to Manny Pacquiao last November. ?Lujan threw thousand punches in his last fights and he seemed not to get tired,? Tony Martin, Melligen?s British trainer said. Lujan is ranked 18th in the world in the welterweight division where Filipino Manny Pacquiao is numero uno. Whereas, Melligen is ranked 23rd in the world in the light middleweight division. However, they are fighting at 149 pounds. How important is this fight in Melligen?s career? ?Very Important. This fight will define if Mark has the guts, the will and the heart to be a champion. Everybody know that he has the boxing skills and the talent to be a world champion. This fight is the ultimate test for Mark to be considered for a title bout by Top Rank Promotions,? Martin said. ?Napakahalaga ng laban na ito para kay Mark (This fight is very important for Mark). Malalaman na natin kung nakahanda na siya sa big time fight. (We will know if he is ready for the big time fight),? Edito Villamor said. He arrived in Las Vegas on Sunday to be at Melligen?s corner with Martin during the fight. ?Pagbubutihin ko po ang laban na ito para sa mga Pilipino at sa lahat ng sumusuporta sa akin mula sa ALA Promotions, sa aking mga trainers at para sa Top Rank na naniniwala sa akin. (I will do my best in this fight for the Filipino people and to all who supports me from ALA Promotions, my trainers and for Top Rank who believes in me),? Melligen said. ?As far as I can see, Lujan is a dangerous opponent, strong like a bull, durable and with great fighting stance. Melligen has to fight intelligently and I feel confident that Mark will still win. Melligen should fight from the outside but when he sees the opening he should take his chance and finish Lujan off,? Tony Martin, Melligen?s trainer said. Melligen who has three days of impressive sparring sessions with the undefeated light welterweight Jessie Vargas (15,0,0, 8 KOs) at the Mayweather gym in Las Vegas will do some more workouts to shed few more pounds. Melligen?s team will fly to San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday by Southwest flight 3054 arriving at 12:00 noon. Directly upon arrival they will proceed to the ChampionFit Gym founded and operated by former 2-time world champion Jesse James Leija for the ESPN TV workout. Then, they will attend the press conference in the afternoon. Weigh-in will be on Thursday and the fight will be on the next day at ESPN?s Friday Night Fights. Photo: Mark Jason "Mighty" Melligen hitting the mitts and body targets of his trainer, Tony Martin, at the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas. Photo by Rod Mijares. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rod Mijares.  |
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