By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The Philippines Jason Melligen (12-1, 9 KO’s) has impressed former world No.1 pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr who watched Melligen spar eight rounds at the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Longtime Cebu resident and boxing man Anthony “Tony” Martin, who handles Melligen’s training along with Floyd’s uncle Roger Mayweather in the presence of former world junior lightweight champion Cornelius Boza Edwards, told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that the former undefeated welterweight champion visited the gym two days ago.
Martin quoted Mayweather Jr as saying “he (Melligen) is strong and he is fast” while trainer Roger Mayweather and Boza Edwards remarked “he is a good fighter, skilled and with punching power in both hands.’
The 22 year old southpaw Melligen makes his US debut at the Mile High Event Center in Denver, Colorado on March 7 and his opponent is expected to be Ramon Montano who has a record of 16-6-2 with 1 knockout. He fought then WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on March 15, 2008 and lost a ten-round majority decision to Diaz who was demolished by Pacquiao in nine rounds in his next fight. Montano had served as one of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partners in preparation for his rematch against Juan Manuel Marquez which was the main event on the same night..
Martin said they have been training at the Mayweather gym for almost three months and Melligen has worked hard and sparred over 100 rounds with sparring partners ranging from 140 pounds to 160 pounds and hasn’t backed off.
Melligen’s jogging consists of flat road work and mountain work and according to Martin he has been running at an elevation of 5,000 feet the past week in order to prepare for the high altitude of the fight venue. Martin expressed confidence stating “He is ready and we are going there to win.”
Martin said they would leave for Colorado on the evening of March 5 for the fight card being staged by Delgado Promotions in association with Top Rank. Martin described Arum as “an extremely nice person and a pleasure to deal with” even as he thanked the promoter extraordinaire for “giving Melligen a chance to prove his worth and for all the assistance both Arum and his staff have shown us.”
Melligen is the Philippines light welterweight champion having won the title with a 7th round KO over Christopher Saluday on April 21, 2007. In his lasty title defense Melligen annihilated Cris Alag in one round, winning by a knockout on July 12, 2008.
