Gatekeepers in Boxing
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Jan 2023
Melindo (L) fighting at featherweight against Buatkrathok of Thailand.
Typically, a boxer aspires to continually improve in his craft in order to join the ranks of at least rated contenders to be able to compete for a championship, be that on the world, international or national level.
In time, after reaching a certain strata of success as far as his aptitude and attitude could take him, such boxer either achieve his goal of becoming a champion or in being unable to sustain his drive or simply failing, usually is relegated to the unflattering role of a gatekeeper or trial horse or worse a journeyman.
That has been the fate of many a boxer who has an auspicious start in their prizefighting careers only to fall by the wayside when it is time to separate the grain from the chaff, so to speak or as they say separate the men from the boys.
The other day, I talked about durable Zimbabwe-born heavyweight Derek Chisora as he for the nth time essayed the role of a trial horse in a fourth fight with long time British boxing circuit rival Tyson Fury.
That fight which was even billed as for Fury's WBC and the Ring Magazine lineal world heavyweight titles drew flak from many casual boxing fans who may have been unaware of an age old tradition and practice in the heavyweight division of a champion meeting a reputed trial horse or gatekeeper in the course of his title reign.
Such tradition and practice could have even started and became prominent during the long reign of Joe Louis in the 40s that included his infamous "bum of the month" list of title foes and victims. Even the disputed GOAT Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali faced a slew of trial horses or gatekeepers, not just once as Henry Cooper, George Chuvalo and Jerry Quarry on his way to and lengthy stay at the top for nearly two decades in the 60s and 70s.
Therefore Fury fighting Chisora even for the fourth time in his championship laden career is not only par for the course, it could have even prepared him well in his much awaited unification clash against unified WBA-IBF-WBO titlist Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine. Note that Usyk himself tangled with Chisora to test his readiness for the heavyweights after dominating the cruiserweights which served in good stead in his two title matches wins against Anthony Joshua.
Evidently Chisora has wholeheartedly embraced his fate and current role as premier trial horse or gatekeeper of the loaded heavyweight division.
Which cannot be said of other fighters not only in the heavyweights as such role is not limited to boxing's heaviest weight class and can be found in boxing in general.
Take for example the case of the recent comebacking Filipino fighter Milan Melindo.
After a short fling with glory as a world champion at light flyweight and failing in two tries to win another tenure at that weight class and at the higher flyweight division, Melindo quit pro boxing for more than two years rather than be relegated to the unflattering role of a trial horse in those lower weights.
Prior to quitting boxing, Milan has suffered back to back to back losses on points to Ryoichi Taguchi losing his IBF light flyweight belt, by technical knockout to Kenshiro Teraji in a failed WBC 108 lbs. title try and via another stoppage to Junto Nakatani in a world title eliminator at flyweight.
What I found astonishing in his comeback last year was that for a fighter of his physical stature and that has previously fought most of his career at 108-112 lbs., Melindo has now opted to resume his career as a full featherweight (maximum weight limit of 126 lbs.).
A few years ago, Johnriel Casimero also almost went that way after having some issues with the weight at flyweight and super flyweight but luckily he was prevailed upon not to take that huge jump and has since won a world title at bantamweight and is now aiming for a fourth world championship at super bantamweight.
Milan in explaining this move said that his passion for boxing has not waned despite his past failures and that he wanted to emulate the example of Manny Pacquiao and more- He wanted to educate the Filipino fans of the finer points of boxing for which he was noted especially at the early stages of his pro career where he earned the nom d guerre, Metodico.
Not to rain on his comeback parade but I feel uneasy about this latest move and decision of Melindo.
Thus far, Milan has been successful, winning both his fights but his two past opponents were not exactly the types that would truly test and gauge him at 126 lbs. or even the lower bantamweight or super bantamweight which his camp said is still an option for him going forward.
In his comeback featherweight debut, Milan forced to retire Crison Omayao who himself is a blown up flyweight whose losses at 23 are almost as many as his wins, 24. Omayao to his credit has been in the ring with many of the top names at flyweight where he suffered most of his defeats. But then again...
In his most recent bout, Milan gained a minor international regional title, the vacant OBF Silver featherweight trinket by unanimous decision win over Thailand's Chaiwat Buatkrathok in a main event in Cebu City. Buatkrathok already has eight losses in more than 40 fights including a TKO loss to bantamweight Reymart Gaballo a few years back.
Again, Omayao and Buatkrathok are far from the types of boxers that would be a gauge Milan's fitness to continue his career at weight classes beyond the flyweights and eventually avoid being relegated to the status as trial horse or journeyman.
But personally I am intrigued and interested in seeing Milan execute his Metodico style of fighting against other local and especially foreign higher calibre fighters at featherweight which has traditionally been known for power boxing and brutal knockouts.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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