Milan “El Metodico” Melindo finally achieved world champion status after scoring a first-round stoppage of Japanese Akira Yaegashi to earn the IBF world light flyweight title Sunday at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan.
Melindo (36-2-0) came into the fight as the interim IBF champion and he immediately proved that he deserved to have the belt around his waist.
Melindo dropped Yaegashi (25-5-0), the regular 108-lb IBF world champion, twice in the first round, prompting the referee to waive off the fight at the 2:45 mark.
It was the third world title fight for Melindo, whose previous two cracks at a world title ended in losses to Javier Mendoza for the same belt and Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBO world flyweight title and WBA super world flyweight titles.