Unbeaten Melindo stops Rosas in 11th

CEBU CITY—Unbeaten Milan “El Metodico” Melindo staged a ring clinic Saturday night before stopping veteran Francisco Rosas to clinch the World Boxing Organization Intercontinental flyweight title at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino here.

Landing combinations with precision while evading Rosas’ counterpunches, Melindo took all the rounds from the opening bell, forcing referee Bruce McTavish to halt the carnage before the start of the 11th round of the bout headlining Pinoy Pride VIII: Philippines versus Mexico.

Using lateral movement and hand speed, Melindo repeatedly tagged Rosas  with jabs, hooks and uppercuts, bloodying the World Boxing Council Hispanic titlist’s nose in the third round.

The 31-year-old Rosas, who weighed in at a bloated 117 pounds on Friday before sweating down to 113.5, gamely tried to fight back.

But the 23-year-old Melindo, a trim 111 pounds when he climbed the ring, clearly was the better tactical fighter in posting his 25th straight win, nine by knockouts. Rosas fell to 22-9-2 with 13 KOs.

While Melindo lived up to his moniker and bolstered his international reputation further, young hopeful Jayson Pagara flunked his first litmus test against rangy Rosbel Montoya in their battle for his WBO Youth junior welterweight crown.

Though the 19-year-old Pagara showed his potential in winning the first two rounds through incessant attacks, Montoya had him figured out starting the third to win by unanimous decision.

Pagara saw his win run broken at 15 and dropped to 27-2 with 16 knockouts.

The 5-foot-9 Montoya, who checked in a pound over the 140-pound limit, climbed to 35-4-1 with 29 KOs and was rewarded by an ovation from the capacity crowd.

Because of Montoya’s excess weight, however, the WBO Youth junior welterweight crown will be declared vacant.

Rising star Genesis Servania dominated veteran Gerson Guerrero in their super bantamweight tussle to give the Filipinos a 2-1 edge over the Mexicans in the famed fight series.

Servania, just 20 years old, raised his record to 15-0 with five knockouts, while Guerrero, 34, slipped to 34-9 with 26 KOs.

Elated by Melindo’s performance, Michael Aldeguer, president and chief executive officer of ALA Promotions, said he will try to get the pride of Cagayan de Oro a title shot in his next fight.

As to Pagara, Aldeguer said they wanted to see “if he is ready for the big fights.” And, “obviously, he needs to develop some more.”

The night’s most applauded bout turned out to be the six-round junior flyweight battle between Roma Rate of Mandaue City and Ryan Bongkawil of Bukidnon City.

While Rate was the more polished fighter, the rapid-punching Bongkawil was able to knock him down in the second round and looked headed for victory when Rate was deducted a point for head butt in the fifth.

The judges, however, thought otherwise and reached a verdict of unanimous draw, to the irritation of many who booed the decision.

Using his longer reach, Melindo repeatedly switched his targets from the body to the head, befuddling Rosas, who got staggered with a crackling right to the jaw in the fourth round.