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Boxing: Did Milan Melindo rush himself into fighting on New Year’s Eve?

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Dennis Gasgonia, ABS-CBN News

Milan Melindo appears to have taken a big risk challenging fellow world champion Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan, losing his own light-flyweight belt despite a brave effort.According to boxing analyst Ed Tolentino, Melindo came in as a replacement, less than 4 months after his grueling 12-round fight against Hekkie Budler in September.“(Kasi) nandoon iyong opportunidad,” Tolentino said. “In fact, Taguchi was planning to fight another Japanese champion. Ang problema that guy got injured and was rendered unavailable, so they got Milan Melindo kasi he drew quite an attraction doon kay Akira Yaegashi (in a bout held in Japan in May).”For Melindo, the prospect of unifying the International Boxing Federation title with Taguchi’s World Boxing Association belt was a lot more attractive than taking on Hekkie Budler in an immediate rematch, Tolentino added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/31/17/boxing-milan-melindo-loses-world-title-in-bloody-bout">Boxing: Milan Melindo loses world title in bloody bout</a></li></ul>The IBF ordered Melindo to fight Budler again due to an alleged infraction that saw Melindo’s camp treating a deep cut during a referee’s timeout.“Dahil nagkaroon ng issue sa laban na iyon, the IBF ordered an immediate rematch. Pero noong nagkaroon ng opportunity kay Taguchi, between a mandatory defense and a fight for a unification, doon na siya sa unification,” Tolentino said.“So in a way, biglaan ang laban kay Taguchi. It was not really planned.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/04/18/boxing-why-recent-loss-shouldnt-dampen-milan-melindos-spirit">Boxing: Why recent loss shouldn’t dampen Milan Melindo’s spirit</a></li></ul>The December 31 fight date wasn’t Melindo’s choice either. Taguchi wanted to fight on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the third anniversary of his WBA title win at Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo.“On the same day in 2014, the same venue, that’s when Taguchi became a world champion,” Tolentino said.The analyst maintained that despite the loss, Melindo will remain a marketable fighter since he used to hold a world title.“In fact, pinag-uusapan pa rin sa Japan ang huling performance niya. Natalo siya against a fellow champion, hindi kahiya-hiya iyon.&quot;(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.)

Milan Melindo appears to have taken a big risk challenging fellow world champion Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan on December 31.

Milan Melindo appears to have taken a big risk challenging fellow world champion Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan on December 31.

Boxing: Did Milan Melindo rush himself into fighting on New Year’s Eve?

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Boxing: Did Milan Melindo rush himself into fighting on New Year’s Eve?

Dennis Gasgonia,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 05, 2018 06:05 AM PHT

Read More:

Milan Melindo

Boxing

Ryoichi Taguchi

Ed Tolentino

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