By Ryan Songalia
The hunt is on for a new opponent for Filipino welterweight prospect Mark Jason Melligen after Roberto Garcia has reportedly withdrawn from the July 1 clash at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Tex.
Garcia, a 31-year-old fringe contender from Texas with a 30-3 (21 KO) record, was supposed to face the 25-year-old Bacolod City, Philippines native Melligen (21-2, 14 KO) in the Top Rank-promoted 10-round main event, which headlines an ESPN2 Friday Night Fights card.
Melligen's assistant trainer Edward Martin says that, while reasons haven't been disclosed, he believes Garcia simply got cold feet.
"We think he is just scared because he knows he is going to lose," said Martin, whose father Tony Martin is Melligen's head trainer.
Among the candidates to replace Garcia are former welterweight title challengers Alfonso Gomez, 30, and Freddy Hernandez, 32, said Martin.
Obtaining opponents for Melligen has been sometimes difficult, says Martin, who added that they proposed Melligen as an opponent for former welterweight champion Kermit Cintron on the undercard of the Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon lightweight title fight scheduled for July 9.
Martin claims that Cintron rejected Melligen because "he wanted an easier opponent."
Martin says that Melligen is currently in Cebu finishing up his strength and conditioning work with Pio Solon and Edito "Ala" Villamor before joining the Martins on June 12 for heavy sparring work.
Both Hernandez (29-2, 20 KO) of Mexico City, Mexico and Alfonso Gomez (23-4-2, 12 KO) of California have excelled against faded former champions, but fell short against the welterweight division's top stars.
Hernandez holds wins over former champs Demarcus Corley and Mike Anchondo, but was knocked out in the first round by then-World Boxing Council welterweight champion Andre Berto in his most recent bout.
Gomez, who attained popularity through the reality show The Contender, was dominant in wins over Jose Luis Castillo and Arturo Gatti, but was stopped in five rounds by Miguel Cotto.
When reached for comment, Gomez said he hadn't been approached about the fight and wasn't sure if he'd consider the fight. Gomez added that he plans to return to the gym on Monday, however.
Melligen, who is coming off a win in February against the 27-1 Gabriel Martinez, has won five straight since losing to Michel Rosales.
Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMANews.TV and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com . An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia.