MILAN Milendo was known for pushing carts in the market and fishing at the bay during childhood years in his hometown in Puerto village, Cagayan de Oro City.
But when he got smitten by the boxing bug, the pint-size boy from Puerto market was destined to rise in stardom.
Last Sunday, May 21, the 29-year-old Milendo surprised the world when he needed just one round to stop Japanese star Akira Yaegashi and captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) World light flyweight title right at the reigning champ’s turf in Tokyo, Japan.
Not known as a heavy puncher, Milendo floored Yaegashi thrice that led the referee to stop the fight at 2:45 of the opening round.
Thus, Milendo followed in the footsteps of Rene Barrientos, the first Kagay-anon to become a world boxing champion when he defeated Ruben Navaro for the World Boxing Council super featherweight belt in 1969.
A pride of Carmen village, Barrientos hang his gloves with a 39-7-2 win-loss-draw record.
Milendo now has a professional boxing record of 36-2-0, including 13 knockouts, while Yaegashi dropped at 25-5-0.
Milendo’s sacrifices finally paid off in his third world title attempt.
In his first try, Milendo lost to Juan Francisco Estrada in their fight for the WBO World welterweight and WBA Super World welterweight belts four years ago.
Milendo yielded again to Javier Mendoza, two years ago, whose IBF crown was later snatched by Yaegashi.
Against Yaegashi, the battle-scarred Milendo could not be denied.
Learning from his lessons, the Kagay-anon underwent at least 22 sparring bouts against seven different partners in five-month span training at the ALA Boxing Gym in Cebu City.
Milendo’s convincing win over Yaegashi had him joined the ranks of Donnie Nietes, Jerwin Ancajas and Senator Manny Pacquiao as the country’s current world champions.
Local folks in Puerto remembered Milendo as a simple young boy before his father Milan Milendo Sr. introduced him to boxing.
“Gapamasol pa kana sa baybay ug tigtulod sa kariton sa merkado sa Puerto,” said Puerto chairman Ian Achas.
Milendo had his roots in Cagayan de Oro boxing community after his frequent outings in the weekly amateur boxing at the park held at the formerly known Amphi Theatre in downtown Divisoria.
He first gained attention when he won the gold medal in the 2000 Batang Pinoy in Santa Cruz, Laguna, representing Misamis Oriental Province during the administration of Governor Antonio Calingin.
“Nibunga ra ang iyang paningkamot tungod na sa mga kagahapon nga maoy nahimong siya karon,” said the ex-Governor’s son Andy Calingin, who at that time was the province’s over-all sports manager.
Calingin recalled that Milendo’s orthodox fighting style was a crowd drawer, which earned him the moniker “El Metodico” or the Method Man.
“Walay si kinsa nga world champion nga kalit lang maing-ana ug tanan niagi sa grassroots. Ang iyang success resulta sa iyang kagahapon. Busa suportaan nato ang programa sa grassroots,” Calingin said.
When Milendo reached 18 years old, he was then chosen as a member of the ALA Boys.
He became a phenomenal prize fighter of Tony Aldeguer’s ALA Boxing Gym as he tallied a perfect record of 29 wins before tasting his first defeat at the hands of Estrada.
