Milan Melindo Decisions Anthony Villareal in Cebu
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Undefeated Milan Melindo took his winning streak to 20 with a hard-fought unanimous decision over American Anthony Villareal in a cracking battle to win the WBC Youth Intercontinental flyweight title before a jam-packed Grand Pacific Ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu.
Aptly titled “Bakbakan sa Sinulog” to highlight the annual colorful celebrations in the “Queen City of the South” where the weather has suddenly turned cool and balmy, the action inside the ring was anything but cool as all the featured fighters turned on the heat to the delight of fight fans who included several foreigners.
Smart Sports which launched its initial venture into bigtime boxing in partnership with the famed ALA Promotions and TV 5 as well as the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines which staged two fights featuring a couple of male and female fighters from the national pool, won both praise and gratitude of boxing fans who realized that such an event would not have been possible without the support of esteemed businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan and ABAP president Ricky Vargas.
In the co-main event promising AJ “Bazooka” Banal showed he has gotten over his stunning tenth round knockout loss to Rafael Concepcion of Panama in a WBA title eliminator and is well on the way to regaining his world title challenger status with a smashing 4th round knockout of Mexican veteran and four-time title challenger Cecilio Santos.
Melindo banked on a first round knockdown and some exciting exchanges in the middle rounds where he staggered Villareal a couple of times but was surprised to see the American fight back furiously, to earn the nod of all three judges who did an excellent job of calling it fair and square despite the initial concerns and objections of Team Villareal who had demanded so-called “neutral judges.”
Ben Necessario had Melindo the winner by a 96-93 margin while Teddy Alivio scored it for the hometown hero 97-93. The third judge Ed Ligas who had explained to Team Villareal how fair Filipino judges are in a meeting on the eve of the fight gave it to Melindo 95-94 further underscoring the fairness of Filipino judges.
In the end Team Villareal appeared clearly comfortable with the decision even as we learned that one of their team members wishes to buy a condominium in Cebu because the team enjoyed typical Filipino hospitality and virtually fell in love with Cebu. Villareal, an excellent fighter with quick hands and someone who was often hard to catch would be an attraction if he returns to fight in Cebu where the fans gave him a big hand when the fight was over.
Misamis Oriental governor Oscar Moreno who was at special ringside together with a roster of PLDT-Smart executives as well as Smart Sports indefatigable marketing head and project director “Pato” Gregorio was all smiles since Melindo is from Cagayan de Oro city.
Melindo lived up to his world-class rankings where he is No. 1 minimum weight in the WBO, No. 3 in the WBA and IBF and No. 5 in the WBC by dropping Villareal in the opening round with a perfectly timed right hook during a furious exchange in the neutral corner. Stunned by the unexpected power of Melindo, Villareal backed off and kept a safe distance the rest of the round.
Villareal quickly regained his composure and came back with some fine combinations in the third round but the Filipino worked to the body and got in some solid shots towards the end of the round.
Round four was another good round for Melindo as he used a stinging left jab effectively and caught Villareal with another solid right hook that momentarily stunned the American although the 22 year old changed tactics using his quick hands and movement to force Melindo to miss while sneaking in punches of his own, sometimes from a southpaw stance that confused Mleindo.
Melindo was drawn into a slugfest by Villareal who despite being dropped in the opening round appeared to be the stronger puncher and in the seventh round the two fighters exchanged some vicious body shots to the delight of the fans with Melindo hurting Villareal as he put the full weight of his shoulder behind the hooks to the ribs.
Villareal, living up to his advance billing, came charging back in round ten and rocked Melindo with a cracking right hook and a variety of punches while Melindo stood his ground and traded punches.
Sensing he was behind on points Villareal desperately tried to turn the tide in the final round but Melindo was not to be denied and in the end won a well-deserved decision in a fight that reinforced his credentials as a worthy world title challenger while at the same time proving that Villareal was as good as he advertised himself to be.
Banal was the aggressor from the opening bell and Santos, a game Mexican who has been in some notable wars with world champions Fernando Montiel and Dimitri Kirilov among others, refused to back off, engaging the Filipino southpaw whenever necessary.
Banal’s work-rate was impressive as he kept the pressure on Santos and nailed him with a series of combinations to the body and the side of the head before he staggered Santos with a cracking left hook towards the end of round three. Santos was saved by the bell as Banal waded into him with both fists blazing.
It was only a matter of time before the accumulation of punches took its toll and when Santos was dropped by a flurry from Banal’s fists of fury he was counted out at 35 seconds of the fourth round. With the win Banal improved to 21-1-1 with 17 knockouts.