By Chris Robinson
When the name Sebastian Lujan comes up I am instantly reminded of two key fights from the enigmatic Argentinean.
The first would be his 10th round TKO loss to then-WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in February of 2005. Introducing himself to American audiences, Lujan proved himself to be a ball of fire against the more celebrated Mexican, storming him early and never failing to keep the contest lively and upbeat.
Margarito would eventually start to break the shorter Lujan down and the imprint of the fight changed dramatically in the ninth round when a right hand by the Tijuana fighter busted open Lujan's ear. Blood started trickling down and Lujan's ear took on the instant look of a cauliflower, with referee David Fields waiving the fight off with mere seconds remaining in the 10th round.
Lujan would resurface in America three and a half years later as he went toe to toe with a fading Jose Luis Castillo in El Cajon, California.
Once a terror at 135 pounds, Castillo was in over his head and past his best as Lujan toyed with him virtually every round. The bald-headed boxer-brawler peppered Castillo with stinging shots throughout, mocking him along the way, and eventually carved out a solid ten-round decision.
Since that victory Lujan has flown under the radar a bit in his native Argentina but is undefeated in his last eleven fights, dating back to a points loss to Jamie Moore in April of 2007. I didn't know if I would ever see Lujan in another meaningful fight yet I was pleasantly surprised to see him announced as a late replacement against talented Mark Melligen this coming Friday night in San Antonio, Texas.
Melligen, the talented and improving southpaw from Bacolod City in the Philippines, was originally slated to face off with former title challenger Freddy Hernandez but the Mexico City fighter had to pull out of the contest after suffering a cut in training. Melligen has been putting in work at Floyd Mayweather's personal facility in Las Vegas, as is the custom with him during his core training camps, and while I do see him prevailing at the end of the day I think Lujan will make things very awkward for him.
Lujan is a brave kid, think of a Ricardo Mayorga with a little more technique, and he has been in with some decent competition up to this point. He hasn't backed down from any challenges before and he will go into the fight with no reason to fear Melligen at all.
To know Mark Melligen is to like him as he is a free spirit and a hard worker. He has bounced back very well from an upset loss to Michel Rosales in November of 2009 and enjoyed a 2010 campaign that saw him reel off four victories, including scalps over rugged Norberto Gonzalez and talented West African Anges Adjaho.
But just as Lujan is taking the fight on short notice, so too did Melligen have only a few solid weeks of training in Las Vegas and who knows where his focus will be heading into a fight against a late sub like Lujan.
I'm still riding with 'Mighty' Mark but things should get pretty interesting this Friday in San Antonio.
