CEBU CITY—Milan Melindo jarred Jean Piero Perez with an overhand left early in the opening round but couldn’t put the Venezuelan away and settled for a majority decision in their 12-round flyweight fight Saturday night here.
Perez, a former WBA flyweight champion, easily weathered the onslaught that the big crowd inside the Waterfront Hotel and Casino thought would abruptly end the fight, throwing combinations to fend off the shorter Melindo from there on.
Judge Salven Lagumbay scored it a draw at 114-all while Edward Ligas and Tony Pesons scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for the Cagayan de Oro native.
“I’m very sorry I wasn’t able to knock him out,” said Melindo in Filipino. “I didn’t expect to get hit in the eyes early and I had to fight with just one good eye.”
Perez opened a cut on Melindo’s left eyebrow with jabs and the Filipino, although displaying superior skills and speed, was reduced to chasing his foe and throwing punches that either missed the target or lacked power.
Melindo, the WBO International flyweight champion, raised his unbeaten record to 28 fights. His handlers were hoping for an impressive win that would earn him a world title shot in the future.
In other bouts, Rocky Fuentes scored a unanimous decision win over Lee Myung-ho of Japan in their OPBF flyweight title fight. Arthur Villanueva also prevailed by unanimous decision over 42-year-old Thai Pramuansak Posuwan.