Milan Melindo vs. Ryoichi Taguchi

[NEETzsche]

Good stuff. I didn't keep count but I feel it was fairly comfortable on points for Taguchi in the end. The championship rounds were fun but I still feel like he had the ability to make it easier for himself if he had fought off of the jab and maintained his distance more consistently

[asgarth]

117-111 taguchi on my scorecard.
Melindo couldnt fight back in the late rounds and was bothered by taguchis volume. Also doesnt have any head movement to slip and roll punches on the inside.
Wasnt the best fight to watch, melindo was happy to clinch on the inside too much.

[1hourRun]

Round eleven: Taquchi comes straight too Milan, the fight starts off like the last round, Taquchi goes to the body, Melindo appears to have been affected by the work, another clash of heads! Miland comes back land the hooks up and downstairs trying to get back in the round! little clinching going on. Both men have slowed down a bit, they are starting to lean on eachother working the body but Taqhuchi gets a second win in the last few moments landing flush but grazing at the same time.



Final round: Melindo comes out fresher of the two letting his hands go, he gets countered by Taquchi! another pause in the action, another cut on Milan! Taquchi see blood and is going in! but Milan show heart and stands his ground like a true champion. Taquchi smothers Milan and creates space opening up on him- I think Taquchi just won.

[Outworn]

Taguchi won by UD decision. Surprisingly wide. I thought it was close.

[asgarth]

Taguchi Melindo
1 9 10
2 10 9
3 10 9
4 10 9
5 9 10
6 10 9
7 10 9
8 10 9
9 9 10
10 10 9
11 10 9
12 10 9
117 111

[1hourRun]

Well deserved victory to the NEW UNIFIED IBF, WBA JR. FLYWEIGHT CHAMPION. great fight.

[asgarth]

WBC WBA IBF

Not sure how tagging a user works.

So question to the WBC WBA IBF poster. Is boxrec wrong or did the WBA really create a new WBA SUPER belt for the unification fight?
I though they wanted to get rid of the super belt?

[asgarth]

just looked at boxrec and japan has all 4 belts at 108. Hopefully we get more unification fights between Taguchi, Tanaka and Shiro.

[N/A]

[MENTION=12993233]So question to the WBC WBA IBF poster. Is boxrec wrong or did the WBA really create a new WBA SUPER belt for the unification fight?
I though they wanted to get rid of the super belt?

Taguchi listed as unified champion in the new rankings released today. TBD if they'll crown a world champion or not.

WBA has cut back from 42 champions to 25, with a promise of being down to 17 by the 2019 convention.

The reason they still crown multiple champions in a division from time to time is because of promises that were made before it was decided to reduce the titles. As well as still using multiple titles as a get out of jail free card when the WBA is in a pickle and afraid of a lawsuit.

So while it is frustrating that this process has been slower than fans would like (keep in mind promoters prefer the multiple titles), the WBA has made serious progress.