WITH less than a week before his scheduled fight, ALA boy Mark Jason Melligen was assigned another opponent for the “Pinoy Power 2” boxing showdown at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this Sunday.
Due to problems with his visa, Mexican fighter Michele Rosales won’t fight Melligen in the US. Instead, fellow Mexican warrior Ernesto Zepeda will step in for him.
“We didn’t expect it. He was all ready for Rosales. We already had a game plan. We have to make some adjustments because of this. We have to talk to some people who have seen him fight,” ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told Sun.Star Cebu.
The new development in Melligen’s fight was relayed to him by American boxing trainer Tony Martin.
Inspite of the short notice, Aldeguer said he trusts his 23-year-old ward’s abilities because the ALA boys have been trained to handle situations like this.
“This always happens in boxing and our fighters our always prepared for this,” said Aldeguer. “We are looking for Melligen to do well because we have huge plans for him in November.
We aren’t taking the replacement lightly.”
If Melligen wins impressively this Sunday, he will be included as a possible undercard of the much-awaited Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto clash on Nov. 14.
Aldeguer said that Melligen must go slow in the first round and study his opponent first.
“What Mark has to do right now is read his opponent before doing anything,” he said. “A replacement is more dangerous because we don’t know what to expect.”
The Melligen and Zepeda fight will be the first fight shown on pay-per-view, which will be aired live in the Philippines and in the US.
“He is in the best shape of his career. He’s very excited for his first PPV fight,” said Aldeguer.
Zepeda is a veteran of 55 fights and boasts a record of 39 wins with 12 losses and four draws. He is a hard-hitter with 34 knockouts under his belt.
Zepeda lost by an eight-round unanimous decision in his last outing to Ricky Hatton’s sibling, Matthew Hatton, last May in the undecard of pound-for-pound king Pacquiao and Ricky’s mega match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The 32-year-old Zepeda has also fought the likes of former world champions Julio Diaz and Steve Forbes, and former world title contender and erstwhile undefeated Demetrius Hopkins.
