Villanueva, Melindo pull off close wins

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines – Arthur Villanueva and Milan Melindo found strong resistance from their pesky Mexican opponents Saturday evening and barely got away with victories in Pinoy Pride 34 at Hoops Dome.

Villanueva and Melindo, who both failed in their bids for the world title earlier this year, were seriously tested during the fights that could have gone either way.

The 26-year-old Villanueva won the vacant WBC international super-flyweight crown with a split decision over Victor Mendez. Two judges had it for him, 117-111 and 116-112, while the other had it for Mendez, 115-113.

Melindo tried to entertain the crowd and almost paid dearly for it. But he managed to land enough punches to win the 10-round flyweight contest against Victor Olivo, a last-minute replacement.

The three judges had identical scores of 96-94, two of them for the 27-year-old Melindo, and the third one for Olivo, who didn’t come just for the paycheck but went all out for a victory.

But he was denied.

The Mexican camp thought they won both fights. When Villanueva was declared winner, the Mexican trainer faced the crowd wagging his index finger and then pointing to Mendez as the winner.

After the decision, Olivo thumped his chest with his fist and climbed the ring post as Melindo walked around the ring as the winner, with bruises on his face.

Olivo tried to console himself by teasing one of the red-hot ring girls to his corner after the fight.

Villanueva’s face also bore marks of a 12-round battle while Mendez’ face, one boxing scribe noticed, looked the same way when he stepped out of the plane a few days ago.

Wearing the WBC belt, Villanueva, now 28-1, said he went for the knockout early but abandoned his plan when he found it difficult to get the distance.

“I went for the knockout. I knew he felt my punches. But he used his reach advantage and that made it difficult for me. I decided to pace myself,” he said in Filipino.

“I knew he was waiting for the opening so I made sure I was safe. He’s a good boxer and he hurt me a few times. I lacked the speed inside the ring. I will work on this,” Villanueva added.

Melindo, still chasing a world title, could have done better if he didn’t try too hard to look good before the fans that filled half the stadium.

“Did you enjoy the fight?” Melindo, who moved up to 33-2 with 12 knockouts, asked reporters later on.

“Milan could have lost the fight,” said Michael Aldeguer of ALA Promotions, adding that he was unsure what the future holds for Melindo after the fight.