Come back a world champion, Milan
As I am writing this, I am feeling hopeful yet a bit nervous as Milan Melindo (35-2, 12 KOs) takes on Akira Yaegashi for the latter’s IBF light flyweight crown.
This will be Milan’s third attempt at wresting a world title and I’m hoping the adage “the third time’s the charm” will somehow work for him in Japan.
AKIRA. Part of my nervousness has to stem from the fact that Akira is a formidable opponent and a far better fighter than his record of 25-5, 13 KOs suggests.
This is a guy who beat Edgar Sosa back in 2013 while the latter was relatively still in his prime.
He also defeated Javier Mendoza, the same guy who frustrated Milan in his second world-title attempt back in 2015.
Three of his five losses came against world champions Roman Gonzales, Kazuto Ioka and Pedro Guevarra while the other two happened early in his career.
So you are talking about a guy who’s seen it all and has faced some of the best in the business.
STYLE. For Milan it has always been a style issue when it comes to his world championship losses.
You can’t say anything about the guy, he always comes in shape, he’s a very intelligent fighter and always confident about his chances.
But in his first try against Juan Francisco Estrada, his style was foiled by the sharpshooting Mexican who opted to fight from the outside and exchanged with Milan only in the championship rounds when he had already worn out the latter.
His fight against Mendoza was another heartbreaker as he lost via techincal decision as both fighters suffered cuts due to an accidental headbutt.
All the judges had Mendoza ahead on that fight but Milan was coming on strong.
From what I’ve seen, Yaegashi likes to come in and bang and this style seems perfect for a counter-puncher like Milan.
Against Gonzales, the Japanese fighter engaged in furious exchanges before succumbing in the 9th round.
Yaegashi seems to have the advantage in hand speed, and so the key for Milan is to crowd him and turn it into a phone booth brawl.
He needs to be aggressive and push the pace of the fight. He’s a notoriously slow starter but since he will be fighting on foreign territory he needs to heat up fast and look impressive for the judges.
Good luck Milan. Make yourself a world champion.
VERBATIM. “I just go in there and make sure I don’t get caught with anything. I don’t want to go in there and be careless.”Terence Crawford who defends his Junior Welterweight WBO and WBC titles today against Felix Diaz. LAST ROUND. It’s on my tri-athlete niece Yanna Isabelli Chanco Quijano, who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!
You can’t say anything about the guy, he always comes in shape, he’s a very intelligent fighter and always confident about his chances.