INQUIRER Sports

FILIPINO FIGHTER Mark Jason Melligen won big as promised, stopping Mexican foe Fabian Luque in the second round Sunday in front of a packed crowd at the Oscar ?Tigre? Garcia gymnasium in Ensenada, Baja California.

Melligen knocked down Luque in the opening round and then sent his rival down again in the second, prompting the referee to call a halt to the junior welterweight fight originally set for eight rounds.

?Luque was downed in the first,? said Edito Villamor, chief trainer of Cebu?s famed ALA stable of fighters, told the Inquirer in a long-distance interview.

?Then the referee stopped it after another knockdown in the second just as Melligen was following up with combinations.?

Melligen?s third consecutive win under the Top Rank banner improved his record to 15 wins, 1 loss with 11 KOs, and lined him up for another fight on Aug. 15 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

That fight will be in the undercard of the Nonito Donaire-Hugo Cazares and Steven Luevano-Bernabe Concepcion double-header promoted by Top Rank.

Villamor, who worked the corner with Las Vegas-based Tony Martin, said the Bacolod-raised Melligen will return to the Philippines on Thursday, take a short rest, then fly back to the United States to prepare for his next fight.

Sportsman Antonio L. Aldeguer, whose son Michael manages Millegen, said the 23-year-old fighter needs two more years before getting a crack at a world title.

In the main event, super featherweight Joksan ?Torito? Hernández (15-1-0, 8 KOs) prevailed by majority decision over ex-Pacquiao foe Héctor Velázquez (51-13-2, 35 KOs) in a bout for the WBC Continental Americas.

Omar Chavez (16-0-1, 12 KOs) scored an impressive second-round TKO over Patrick ?Raging Bull? Cape (5-7, 3 KOs).