MELLIGEN WINS TOUGH FIGHT AGAINST ADJAHO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 04 Jul 2010
Welterweight Mark Jason Melligen depended on his aggressiveness in some close rounds to ultimately score what looked like a comfortable points decision on the scorecards of all three judges at the Grand Sierra Restort in Reno, Nevada but told us that Anges ?Baby Face? Adjaho was bigger and tougher than he expected.
The Benin, West African boxer who fights out of New York stepped in for Mexico?s Michel Rosales who pulled out of a rematch with Melligen after edging the Filipino southpaw in a split decision win on November 13, 2009 and although he couldn?t fulfill his promise to go to war and beat the s?t out of Melligen, Adjaho did give him a hard fight especially in the sixth round when he caught Melligen with some big right hands and solid lefts to the body.
However, as Chris Robinson of examiner.com reported Melligen turned the tide in the very next round and seized control of the fight, coasting to victory by scores of 97-93, 98-92 and 99-91.
In a post fight interview Melligen told insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that Adjaho was ?good, hit hard and I felt it. But I could take his punch.?
Melligen said he was "surprised how big Adjaho was" considering he had previously fought as a super featherweight and lightweight dropping a twelve round split decision in a super featherweight title eliminator against Miguel Acosta on October 13, 2007 and suffering a 9th round TKO in a WBC lightweight eliminator against talented Antonio De Marco on July 11, 2009 after beating tough Fernando Angulo over eight rounds on February 14, 2009.
Melligen said Adjaho had an awkward style and his defense was hard to penetrate but overall he was pleased with his performance although according to Robinson the final round saw very little action and Adjaho failed to take the fight to Melligen in an otherwise solid scrap.
Trainer Tony Martin appeared a little disappointed with Melligen although he conceded ?it was a lot tougher than we anticipated and he was bigger than Mark as well. He was very difficult to hit because he had such a good defense.?
Martin candidly stated that he would have ?liked Mark to throw a lot more punches and a lot more body work. But it was hard for Melligen to get in and Adjaho was also a very strong puncher? adding that Melligen ?has a lot more to learn.?
The trainer also mentioned that they wore ten ounce gloves instead of the eight ounce gloves which he said was also a factor. When Melligen who improved to 19-2 with 13 knockouts needed to, he pressured his African opponent and nailed him with some solid blows.
Prior to the fight Martin told us that Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman was thinking of Jesus Soto Karass as a possible next opponent for Melligen depending on his showing against Adjaho. Whether the Top Rank matchmaker would consider such a fight or chooses another opponent would depend on a post-fight analysis of Melligen?s overall performance against Adjaho.
Melligen indicated he would arrive in Manila from Las Vegas on July 8.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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