Milan Melindo gets a victory ride from his trainer Edito Villamor in one of his wins in the Pinoy Pride Series. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
Milan Melindo’s dream of another shot at a regular world title will finally be fulfilled.
Only, it will not happen next month as earlier reported but on May yet, ALA Promotions President/CEO Michael Aldeguer revealed.
Melindo, the IBF Interim world Jr. flyweight titleholder will face regular world champion Akira Yaegashi of Japan in the latter’s home turf as the ALA Boxing Gym star hopes to finally nail the crown that has painfully eluded him twice.
Melindo won the IBF Interim title with a hard-earned points victory over Thailand’s Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. at the Cebu Coliseum last November elevating him as the mandatory challenger to Yaegashi.
Melindo caught the attention of the boxing world in 2007 when he won his first regional title. Then undefeated and scoring impressive victories one after another, he cementedd his promise as a title contender when he rose higher in rankings, working his way up for a world championship.
But the climb to the top wasn’t that easy. And Milan learned this lesson when lost in his very first world title attempt against former WBA and WBO unified world champion Juan Francisco Estrada in 2013 at the Cotai Arena, Macau via unanimous decision.
He rebounded by beating formidable Mexican warriors in former WBA world interim light flyweight champion Jose Alfredo Rodriguez and one-time world title challengers Martin Tecuapetla and Saul Juarez.
He failed in his second world title bid to Mexican Javier Mendoza in the latter’s hometown in May 2015. The fight ended in a 6th round stoppage due to head clashes between the two fighters. Melindo cried for a rematch but one that will never be materialized.
Melindo finally won a world title when he beat then IBF No.3 Sakkreerin Jr., last November 26.
Yaegashi meanwhile, won the IBF world title from Javier Mendoza in 2015 and has since defended it twice against Martin Tecuapetla and Thailander Wittawas Basapean.
Yaegashi has also held the WBA world minimumweight title in 2011 before losing it to Kazuto Ioka the year after, in a WBA/WBC unified world championship. Moving two divisions up, he won the WBC world flyweight belt from Toshiyuki Igarashi in 2013, defending it thrice before losing to No.1 pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez in 2014.