CHEERS to Milan Melindo who fought bravely and gamely in a losing effort to Juan Francisco Estrada.
It was a closely fought contest, the complexion of which was not accurately reflected at all by the judges? scorecards.
I trolled for some reactions from fight fans and majority of them were in askance at the scores turned in.
Like them , I thought Milan was slightly ahead on the cards and could have won that fight had he not been knocked down in round 11 and dominated in the 12th.
We were of the impression that the knockdown was the clincher for Estrada, but apparently, he didn?t even need it as he was way ahead entering the 11th round.
SCORING. The scores turned in were as follows: 118-109 (twice), 117-109
Aside from the judge?s personal preferences, the mechanics of the 10-point must scoring system comes into play again.
For each round under this system, a judge must give 10 points to the winner and give the loser a 9.
Subtract another point for a knockdown and so if a fighter gets knocked down he will only get an 8 while the winner gets a 10.
That?s basically the gist of the system.
But subjectivity definitely comes into play and a 10-9 round does not necessarily reflect the close nature the action in that round.
To illustrate a fighter may dominate his opponent in a round so he gets a clear 10-9, but a round can be closely fought in tides and ebbs, and because of the 10-point must scoring system, judges are hard-pressed to pick a winner to award that coveted 10 points.
That applies even though that fighter probably edged out that round because he landed a lucky hook just before the bell.
Now in the latter case, multiply that by 12 rounds, and if you keep giving that fighter the round because he seems to squeak by ever so slightly, you will get lopsided totals of 120-108, theoretically.
But in reality, those rounds could actually have gone either way, so the results will not reflect the close nature of the fight.
STYLE. I thought Estrada had a slight advantage in speed and this was the crucial factor which allowed him to overcome Milan?s more methodical approach.
Melindo is a master at infighting, and he did his best work everytime Estrada was close. The latter fought better when he jabbed and landed some follow up shots before moving away from harm.
On several occasions, I have noticed–to the misfortune of the infighter that television viewers are often presented with a better angle on the punches landed on the inside than the ringside judges.
Blame it on the fact that judges? perspective are sometimes obscured and limited especially when both fighters are hunched together exchanging blows and everything happens so fast .
In contrast, the punches thrown from a distance are more clearly appreciated if they land cleanly.
This probably had a lot to do in influencing the way the judges scored the fight.
STAMINA. A telling factor too was the fact that Milan was spent and tired in the championship rounds. Unlike some of his ALA stablemates, who are widely believed to have stamina issues, Milan always finishes strong in his fights.
But in Macau, Milan appeared winded and bushed by round nine and the accumulation of punches he landed probably took its toll by then.
Brian Viloria has stronger one- punch knockout power than Milan, and the ?Hawaiian Punch? threw everything, including the kitchen sink, but Estrada took them well. Milan also rocked Estrada on several occasions, but the latter would always come back strong.
In a nutshell, Estrada basically outlasted the feisty Milan.
NEXT. Melindo should not be disheartened by the loss. True, it was a golden opportunity for him to fulfill his dream, but what doesn?t kill you can only make you stronger.
He can only learn from that experience and come back stronger. There will be other opportunities as long as he stays focused and keeps on working hard.
