MARK Jason Melligen survived one of the toughest fights of his career and beat African Anges Adjaho in Nevada yesterday.
Melligen started out strong and took charge in the first few rounds of the 10-round match but Adjaho picked up the pace in the sixth and landed a couple of telling blows.
It was a see-saw battle between both fighters. However the 24-year-old Filipino prospect was the busier fighter and got the nod from the three judges, 98-92, 97-93 and 99-91.
“Mark fought a good fight but what is more important is what he has learned from fighting quality opponents and that will help him become better. Mark still has a long way to go and needs to improve in some aspects of his game,” ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
Melligen, a former amateur standout, improved to 19 wins and two losses with 13 knockouts and increased his win streak to three.
The 30-year-old Adjaho dropped to 25-3 with 14 KOs and suffered his second straight loss after being beaten by Antonio De Marco in a title eliminator last year.
Although Melligen won the fight by a huge margin against a world-rated opponent, Aldeguer believes he still has a lot to improve.
“He has to adjust fast to the different styles of his opponents which is the usual thing young fighters have to learn. Mark was hit at times with the straight which shouldn’t have happened because he is a good defensive fighter. He has now learned to be more of an offensive fighter, which is good,” said Aldeguer.