By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Milan Melindo suffered the first loss in his career when he dropped a twelve round unanimous decision against tough Mexican WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada at the Cotai Arena of the plush Venetian Resort Hotel in Macau.
Estrada used the same tactics he employed when he grabbed the title from the fancied Brian Viloria, biding his time and coming on strong in the so-called championship rounds.
A cut under the left eye of Melindo in round six appeared to be the turning point of the fight as the blood bothered the mandatory challenger while Estrada targeted the cut with his accurate right straights which got through the almost impeccable defense of Melindo up to that point.
Hampered by the bleeding cut, Melindo felt the fight may have been slipping away from him and decided to engage Estrada with the hope of scoring a knockout in the eleventh round. Instead it was Melindo who got caught with a perfectly timed counter right that dropped the challenger and with it the chance of possible victory.
Buoyed by the knockdown and his corner yelling out instructions to go after Melindo, Estrada put on a big finish and staggered Melindo to seal the victory but nowhere near the margin on the scorecards of the three judges, which mystified journalists covering the fight at ringside and even Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who told us he had Melindo ahead at the end of the eight round but that the last four rounds and the knockdown clinched the fight for Estrada in his first title defense.
Judge Rafael Ramos had Estrada ahead 118-109, Takeshi Shimakawa 117-109 and Zolta Enyei 118-109.
Arum said he didn't know which fight the three judges were watching while HBO commentators Larry Merchant and former two-time world heavyweight champion George Foreman were equally surprised by the judges scorecards with Foreman believing that Melindo probably should have even eked out a close decision.
Melindo caught Estrada with a solid left hook that shook Estrada in the dying seconds of the first round and rocked the champion again in round four with another left hook.
Melindo was gracious in defeat and acknowledged that Estrada was the better fighter tonight and said he learnt a lot from his first title bid and would return much better prepared the next time around.
Arum praised the effort of Melindo and said he would, in the future, give him another crack at the world title.
