In his first attempt to win a major title, Melindo (32-1-0,12 KOs) took the challenge to face Juan Francisco ‘El Gallo’ Estrada of Mexico in Macau, China two years ago but lost via a unanimous decision.
Since losing to Estrada in 2013, Melindo fought and won three times against Mexican fighters with two fights ending in unanimous decisions and one majority decision.
All three fights took place in Melindo’s home court in the Philippines. His last fight was against Saul Juarez which took place at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino, Lahug, Cebu City, Cebu last November.
Now that Melindo is challenging a Mexican opponent in his home court, he needs to win via knockout or score insurmountable lead in scoring to be assured of victory.
On record, most Filipino boxers have lost fights in Mexico even if popular and unofficial scoring favors a Filipino fighter.
But there are few Filipino fighters who survived the seemingly flawed hometown scoring in Mexico including Eden Sonsona, who pulled a major upset against Mexican Adrian Estrella a few days ago.
Estrella was unbeaten in his pro career when Sonsona scored a clean technical knockout victory to bag the WBC international super featherweight title.
For Melindo to duplicate Sonsona’s victory in the enemy territory, he should be able to score a knockout victory or a clear insurmountable winning margin.
Mendoza (23-2-1,19 KOs) is a knockout artist having stopped 19 of his 26 opponents since his pro career debut in September 2007.
It would be a tough battle for Melindo considering that he will be fighting in the enemy territory and against a tough Mexican champion.
Melindo lacks power in his punches which shows in his very low knockout rating, but he has the skill to score on points with his mostly accurate punches.
If a KO opportunity doesn’t come, Melindo should try to capitalize on his fairly accurate punching ability and accumulate more points throughout the fight for a possible win on points.