MELINDO TO FACE ESTRADA
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Apr 2013
MACAU - ?I can beat Estrada.?
A cool and confident Milan ?El Metodico? Melindo uttered these words in front of the media when he stood on the podium for the post-fight press conference at the Venetian Macau Hotel.
Filipino sportswriters who just witnessed Juan Francisco Estrada take the world flyweight title away from Brian Viloria were still in awe of the Mexican?s uncanny ability to take power punches and immediately fire back two to three shots of his own.
The impending match-up between Melindo, the WBO mandatory flyweight challenger, and Estrada (23W-2L, 18 KO?s) was already being talked about on press row minutes after ring announcer Michael Buffer gave the official scores.
Melindo (28-0, 12 KO?s) had an impressive 4th round knockout win against Tommy Seran of Indonesia on the undercard. This sealed the deal for his long awaited title shot. Filipino fight pundits told Melindo that Estrada would be a tough opponent but Melindo brushed aside the doubts from his countrymen.
?I don?t think Estrada really hits hard.? Melindo said, ?He hit Viloria hard many times but he did not knock him out. It?s just that Viloria?s style is fit for Estrada.?
Estrada, for his part, said "I heard that Melindo wants to fight me. We'll I'll fight any day of the week."
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum plans to match Estrada and Melindo sometime during the summer. Estrada and Melindo shook hands and posed for photos after the press conference. Both will celebrate their wins, especially Estrada, who gave a career best performance.
But at the back of their minds, both fighters know they have another war ahead of them ? most probably in Macau - sometime in August.
Top Rank's Bob Arum (R) introduces Milan Melindo to the media during the post-fight press conference at The Venetian Hotel in Macau. Photos by Dong Secuya.
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