MILAN Melindo hit another snag in his career after losing his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) Silver featherweight belt to South Korean prospect Jong Seon Kang by unanimous decision in Gwangju City, South Korea.
Melindo controlled the first few rounds and continuously landed his left and body shots. Kang, the taller and longer fighter, tried to capitalize with his reach advantage but Melindo kept the distance close.
Kang was already bleeding through his nose from an uppercut by Melindo in the second round.
In the third round Melindo landed a right straight that wobbled Kang. He tried to finish him off with a barrage of combinations but Kang was saved by the bell.
The 35-year-old Melindo continued where he left off in the previous round and dominated Kang again with his accurate punches in the fourth. He landed a timed right overhand that backed Kang.
Melindo suffered a gash on his left eye, which was caused apparently by a punch.
Melindo still kept his composure and continued to land with his left.
The referee had Melindo’s cut checked near the end of the seventh round but the physician allowed him to continue.
Kang started to come alive in the eighth round and was very aggressive, throwing punches in bunches. He landed a solid left hook to the body of Melindo, who was bleeding profusely from the cut. The referee stopped the fight momentarily to have the gash checked but the ring physician still allowed Melindo to continue.
In the ninth, Kang continued to be aggressive and targeted Melindo’s cut. The referee had to stop the fight again to have the cut checked out but he was again allowed to continue.
In the 10th round, the referee had Melindo’s cut checked again for the fourth time but he was still cleared to continue. If the physician decided to stop the fight Melindo would have lost by technical knockout because the cut was caused by a punch. Melindo slowed down in the final round and Kang continued to throw jabs and straights to Melindo’s head.
Two judges had identical scores of 96-94, while the other judge scored 98-93 for Kang.
Melindo was appalled by the decision of the judges and the performance of the referee.
“The decision is so bad. I am the titleholder. I rallied from rounds one to six and the cut was caused by an illegal blow. I know I wouldn’t get cut by a clear punch because I could clearly see the punches when there was still no blood in my eye. At the same time, even though I was boodied he never landed a solid punch on my face. All his punches landed on my arm. I don’t blame Kang but the judges and the referee weren’t good enough. They should have been fair with their decision and be neutral to preserve the quality fighters that can show more in the world. Even though you watch that fight again and again, there’s no way that the opponent will beat me. I never went down and he never dominated. My face was clean except for the cut,” Melindo told SunStar Cebu.
“This type of judging can cause us to lose our trust with the officials. I’ve been in boxing for a long time, so I know how the fight is going, if I’m winning or not.”
Melindo dropped to 39-6 with 14 knockouts. He suffered his first loss since returning to the ring last year after coming off from a long layoff in 2019.
Kang improved to 17-1-2 with nine knockouts. / EKA