MILAN Melindo and his team is upbeat despite all the odds stacked against them coming into this Sunday morning’s world title tiff against International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight titleholder Javier Mendoza in Tijuana, Mexico.
Melindo’s corner, brothers Edito and Edmund Villamor, have already been in this situation in the past with Donnie Nietes and they successfully won all three world title fights there. Melindo, on the other hand, is already familiar with the place because he stayed in Mexico for a few weeks last year, training at Erik Morales’ and Antonio Mrgarito’s gyms.
“We have experienced fighting here in Mexico with Donnie and Milan is already used to Mexico because he has trained here,” Melindo’s coach Edito told Sun.Star Cebu.
Melindo lost his first shot at a world title after being totally outclassed by Juan Francisco Estrada in 2013.
This time, he won’t let that happen again, losing almost every round to an opponent.
“It depends on the situation (if he will be looking for a knockout) but every round counts and he needs to win every round impressively,” said Edito.
After that loss to Estrada, Melindo has won three in a row, including a unanimous decision win over Saul Juarez that earned him a shot at the IBF belt.
Mendoza snagged the vacant IBF crown following a unanimous decision over former world champion Ramon Garcia-Hirales last year. He had keep-busy fight with Mauricio Fuentes last January and knocked him out in two rounds. This will be his first title defense.
Melindo is 32-1 with 12 knockouts, while Mendoza is 23-2-1 with 19 knockouts.
