ON HYPING MELLIGEN AND ABE'S UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 17 Aug 2009
Las Vegas NV - Mark Melligen had a distinguished PPV debut on world wide TV. He finished off his opponent, Ernesto Zepeda of Tijuana, Mexico, in 4 rounds. His performance is enough to warrant more attention but as Bob Arum said, “he is still young and need not be rushed.”
Therefore, it may really help the kid if we all tone down the hype.
But that does not mean that we should not praise him to the max for his winning efforts! In fact, we should all do that to help him continually keep his spirits high.
The performance of Melligen was what was expected of him. He followed the game plan devised by trainers Edito Villamor and Tony Martin. And, he did it well. For that alone, Melligen deserves a lot of credit for the victory.
But before we start jumping around with glee and start visualizing him on the ring with the present top crop of junior welterweights, let us see where he really is at this point of his career.
And, let us examine the opponent.
Melligen beat a guy who came in as a last minute substitute. Thus, it can be argued that with the mere 10 days to prepare, Zepeda definitely was not fully prepared for the battle.
And, Zepeda lost four of his last six fights. The two victories he had were against people with poor records. In fact his record indicates that he has not fought many people of note. And when he fought people that mattered like Steve Forbes, Demetrius Hopkins and Matthew Hatton, he lost.
Please understand that I am not trying to belittle the accomplishments of the kid called Mighty Mark. I have nothing but respect for his work ethic and discipline. And, I admire his trainers as I have worked with them before in Melligen’s corner.
My only concern is that people may try to push him too fast and hype him to the max only to end up in disappointment.
Perhaps, it is far better just to support the kid for now and encourage him as he goes through his career. There will be plenty of time later down the line for the hype.
Looking at the tape after the fight, one can see certain flaws. But, that is not for me to point out as his trainers I am sure, noticed it too and will surely correct it.
I agree with Rod Mijares that Melligen needs to be a bit more “merciless” on the ring. If he sees an opportunity to end the fight, he should go for the kill himself and not wait for the referee to make that decision for him.
With Melligen’s victory last Saturday, it would not be a surprise if we see him again soon. Let’s all encourage the kid but please tone down the hype.
On the other side of the coin, we were fortunate to be on ring side last Saturday and saw the fights up close.
And, we saw Abe’s big mistake.
Top photo: Referee Joe Cortez (C) waves his hand to signal the end of the contest after the punishment dished out by Mark Jason Melligen (R) on Ernesto Zedepda during the welterweight bout at The Joint, Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas Saturday night.
Steven Luevano is being attended by his team after being knocked out by Bernabe Concepcion after the bell rang in the 7th round.
Clearly, the bell had sounded. Even us outside the ring heard it. And, we also saw that clearly, it was a late hit.
One thing for sure, Jay Nady should share some of the fault for what happened. He came in a little bit too late.
And so does Luevano. The poor kid forgot the old adage of “protecting yourself at all times”.
After the fight I had a short conversation with Abe. He said that perhaps it’s not yet really his time to be a champion. “Hindi pa siguro natin panahon, Doc.”
He also emphatically stated that the shot was not intentional and was thrown during the heat of battle. He was sorry it happened and he assured me that he learned a lot from it.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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