METHOD BEHIND THE MAYHEM
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 28 Nov 2010
Three months ago Milan Melindo already knew how he would handle Carlos Tamara. I was in a Mexican restaurant with the man now known as ?Metodico? three hours after he knocked out Korean Jin Man Jeon. He was talking about the planned match-up against Tamara with ALA Gym trainers Edito and Edmund Villamor.
Melindo elaborated on how he would approach Tamara; how he would counter his shots. I could only understand half of what he was saying. The music was too loud, my stomach was growling and the food was great. But the confident look in his eyes was hard to miss. It was the look of an assassin planning a hit. We all got to see it for ourselves last night.
It was a fast paced chess match. The shorter Melindo's jab surprisingly found it's range early. Tamara tried to be busy with his jab and lateral movement but Melindo cut him off quickly and employed a deadly mix of head and body shots.
The fourth round was breathtaking as the boxers employed close quarter combat with rib rattling shots. Tamara was staggering in the 5th as Melindo stepped on the gas. Just like in his title win against Brian Viloria, Tamara was falling behind after the half way mark. But he was still on his toes and very dangerous.
The Colombian tried to mount a rally. Melindo smartly countered and weathered the storm. There would be no come from behind miracle from Tamara this time as Melindo smartly paced himself after failing in his prediction to score a a 5th round knockout.
The ALA boxer from Cagayan de Oro City finished strong and pinned Tamara on the ropes in a final flurry in the tenth round. The scores read ? 98-82, 98-92 and 97-93. Both boxers deserve to be commended for their excellent display of skills and punch volume. Tamara preserved his reputation of having never been stopped.
This is the kind of action missed by fight fans from North America and Europe because of their preference for heavier boxers.
Tamara (21W-5L, 15 KO's) was the second former champion that Melindo beat convincingly. Last year, he beat former IBF mini-flyweight champ Muhamad Rachman by unanimous decision at the same Waterfront Cebu City Hotel. If there were still any doubts as to whether Melindo (23W-0L, 7 KO's) deserves a shot at a world title, he answered all the remaining questions last night.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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