Melindo dominates Sakkreerin

CEBU, Philippines - Milan ‘El Metodico’Melindo (35-2, 12KOs) dished out an dominant performance  en route to a unanimous decision victory over Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. (31-5, 16KOs) to capture the interim IBF light flyweight title in the main event of ‘Pinoy Pride 39: Road to Redemption’ fightcard the other night at the jampacked Cebu Coliseum.

The ALA Gym warrior displayed strong will power in the early rounds, throwing bombs and staggering Sakkreerin with vicious combinations to the head.

As the bout progressed, it became a battle of two tactical fighters but Melindo came out to be more aggressive, finding his range against the taller Sakkreerin.

Melindo utilized his superior counter-punching skills as he tagged Sakkreerin every time the Thai goes forward.  Melindo landed a right hook followed by an uppercut that appeared to hurt the Thai in the seventh round, which perked up the crowd.

Sakkreerin, however, came alive in the eighth round where he was the busier fighter. He managed to sneak in a solid straight to the Melindo, who immediately answered back with his combinations in the final seconds.

Failure in keeping his promise to send Sakkreerin to the canvass, Melindo kept his composure by using his counter-punching ability to pile up points in the scorecards.

Both showing their strong will to win, the two protagonists poured everything they have in the final round but it was Melindo who got the upperhand, even rocking Sakkreerin in the closing seconds.

After 10 rounds of brutal exchange of punches, the three judges scored 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 all for Melindo.

“I hit him with my strong punches and I admit that he (Sakkreerin) is tough.  I am happy that I perfectly executed my game plan and my style really prevailed over his style,” said Melindo. “I am so happy with the win and the support I received from my kababayan. Their cheers really boosted my energy during the fight.”

With the win, Melindo is now the mandatory challenger to Japanese champion Akira Yaegashi. “I am now looking forward to that. I will have a short rest and then I will immediately get back at training to prepare for the Japanese.”

For his part, ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael Aldeguer was delighted with Melindo’s performance. “I have always believed in him. That was the best performance that I saw from Milan. It doesn’t produce a KO but it was a display of his great boxing skills.”

But Aldeguer knew that the job is not yet done as they will now go on to negotiations with Yaegashi’s camp. “This one final task remaining for Milan and we are looking for the first quarter of the year. Whether here or in Japan, we will have Milan ready.” (FREEMAN)