MELINDO, BANAL FACE DAUNTING CHALLENGE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 07 Jan 2010
Two of the prized fighters of the famed ALA Gym face a daunting task when they headline the exciting “Bakbakan sa Sinulog” fight card on Thursday, January 14 at the plush ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu.
Often a highlight of the annual Sinulog festival, this year’s boxing card is regarded as a blockbuster with two outstanding world-rated Filipinos - Milan “Milenyo” Melindo and AJ ”Bazooka” Banal facing equally determined foreign challengers Anthony Villareal of the United States and Cecilio Santos of Mexico.
A promotional partnership between Smart Sports and ALA Promotions headed by respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer and his son Michael Aldeguer, the international flavor and a title on the line was what esteemed businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan insisted on and Aldeguer promptly acceded to because he likes to test his fighters against worthy opponents to find out just how far they can go in the quest for world titles
It means that WBO No.1 minimum weight Melindo, the undefeated 21 year old with a record 19-0 with 5 knockouts had to move up two weight divisions to take on 22 year old American Anthony Villareal (9-2, 4 KO’s), the WBC Youth Intercontinental flyweight champion who won the title with a split decision over previously undefeated Manuel Roman (14-0-1, 5 KO’s).
Melindo whose ring savvy and skill set him apart is expected to have his hands full against Villareal who likes to come forward and slug it out. Knowing that Melindo has had to move up in weight Villareal is expected to gain in confidence as a result and try to carry the fight to Melindo.
Melindo is ranked No.1 by the WBO, No. 3 by the WBA and IBF and No. 5 by the WBC and the motivation for him is a possible title shot if he wins, and wins impressively.
But Villareal has no plans of flying across the Pacific to hand over his title to the Filipino challenger and is certain to do everything possible to retain his crown.
Banal, the southpaw whose career suffered a temporary setback when he lost by a stunning 10th round KO to Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion in a WBA flyweight interim title fight has slowly regained his confidence which was further reinforced with a solid ten round unanimous decision over Jose Angel Bernaza, a veteran of 49 fights with 25 knockouts last August 29, 2009.
His opponent Cecilio Santos has a somewhat misleading record of 24-11-3 with 14 knockouts because Santos’ defeats were at the hands of world champions or top-rated fighters. He held then IBF flyweight champion Dimitri Kirilov to a majority draw and took current WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel through ten tough rounds before he was stopped in a title bout, while he dropped a twelve round decision to highly-rated Alejandro Valdez in a North American Boxing Federation title fight some years ago.
Santos who moved up in weight to take on undefeated super bantamweight Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in a WBO Latino interim title fight and was stopped last July 17, 2009 recovered quickly to score a 1st round knockout of Cesar Martinez last December11.
Santos is expected to come forward against Banal and attempt to take him out of his rhythm and seek to push him against the ropes where Santos is most effective.
The fights will be telecast on ABC 5, the network that was recently acquired by Pangilinan and signals the first meaningful venture into sports which is likely to become an integral part of the network’s thrust.
In an effort to give fight fans a glimpse of the national amateur pool under the new leadership of the Amateur Boxing Association headed by Pangilinan as chairman, Ricky Vargas as president and Ed Picson as executive director, four amateur bouts will be included in the fight card.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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