Brilliant Melindo mauls Rosas Referee stops one-sided bout before start of 11th round; Servania also wins but Pagara fumbles

CEBU, Philippines - NETWORKSUnbeaten ALA Boxing Gym stalwart Milan “El Metodico” Melindo proved he is ripe and ready for a world title shot after he dished out a methodical TKO victory before the start of the 11th round over Mexican Francisco “Chiquita” Rosas to clinch the WBO Intercontinental flyweight title in the main event of the “Pinoy Pride 8: Philippines vs. Mexico” last Saturday night at the jampacked Pacific grand ballroom of Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

NETWORKSThough he failed to deliver a knockout, it was still a big and spectacular win for Melindo (25-0, 9 KOs) as he bloodied and beat the hapless Mexican visitor to the pulp to the delight of the hometown fans who were awed by the manner he systematically chop down Rosas (22-9-2, 13 KOs).

NETWORKSReferee Bruce McTavish intervened at the end of round 10 as Rosas' trainer Hermino Vega Ramirez failed to stop the flowing of blood from the Mexican's nose.

NETWORKSIn a display of superb boxing skills, the 23-year-old Melindo accurately landed a variation of punches to the head and body of Rosas, who came into the fight five pounds overweight.

NETWORKSIn the fourth, Melindo almost finished Rosas with a crushing left hook to the chin, but the Mexican immediately recovered.

NETWORKS“Lig-on gyud. Nakita gyud ang epekto sa iyang pagka-overweight maong wala natumba, pero kun nisunod pa to sa saktong timbang si Rosas, dugay rato nahayang,” said ALA chief trainer Edito Villamor.

NETWORKSMelindo admitted he wanted to finish the fight early but realized that he is in for a long fight as Rosas amazingly took all his vicious punches. “First round ta to nako tumbahon pero nakabantay ko nga dali ra man maka-recover bisan og ma-groggy,” he said.

NETWORKSFor his part, ALA Promotions CEO Michael Aldeguer was impressed with Melindo’s performance and revealed his plan to work on a posibble world title eliminator for the vastly-improved Cagayan de Oro fighter.

NETWORKS“There's no question that Milan is ready for a title fight, but the problem here is his reputation as a very dangerous fighter in his division (flyweight) that makes difficult for us to get a world champion that is willing to risk his title,” said Aldeguer. “With this fight, Milan will go up in ranking and from there, we will look into maybe a title eliminator next year.”

NETWORKSWhile Melindo basked in the glow of a masterful triumph, it's somehow back to the drawing board for the 19-year-old Jason “El Niño” Pagara (27-2, 16 KOs) as he failed to handle the superior strength and experience shown by Mexican Rosbel “Lobito” Montoya (35-4-1, 29 KOs) on the way to absorbing his only second career defeat.

NETWORKSAfter 10 rounds, the three judges scored 96-94, 99-91 and 97-93 all in favor of Montoya, who displayed a more fluid and dominant style over Pagara.

NETWORKS“We knew beforehand that this is a difficult fight for Pagara. This guy (Montoya) is a prospect in Mexico, but I know Pagara will bounce back. It's boxing, sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some,” said Aldeguer.

NETWORKSUnlike Pagara, ALA newcomer Genesis “Azucal” Servania's youth and power prevailed resulting into a convincing unanimous decision win over former world title challenger Gerson ‘El Nene” Guerrero (34-9, 26 KOs). NETWORKSNETWORKSSernavia, thus, strecthed his undefeated record to 15-0 spiked with 5KOs. (FREEMAN)