Back to WBAN Records Site
or hit your back button

June 25, 2008 - Playboy Mansion, in Beverly Hills, California, and on an ESPN2 cards
Photos and Report by Mike Blair

Melissa McMorrow enjoyed quite the coming out party at the Playboy Mansion as she faced Mayela Perez in the evening’s first bout, a four round junior flyweight affair. McMorrow, like a number of fighters in their pro debut, jumped out of her corner and aggressively pursued Perez. Unlike a lot of pro debut fighters, McMorrow added the elements of accuracy and speed. She forced Perez to back up for much of the opening round and throw counterpunches when she could sneak one in.  In the second round Perez pressed the fight, closing the distance between the two women. At close range Perez was good, she forced McMorrow to back up, thus keeping her a bit off balance. McMorrow adjusted by throwing punches inside, looking for an uppercut that could catch Perez on the chin.  The third round easily belonged to McMorrow. Near the midpoint she backed Perez in to a corner and landed a number of solid shots to the body. Perez was resilient, weathered the punishment and finished the round in the center of the ring to avoid being pinned again.  McMorrow was most impressive in the final round. She continued to move well and threw combinations; she pursued Perez, and in so doing controlled the ring; and when Perez did land a punch, McMorrow fired back.  Final scores: 39-37, 39-37, 40-36.

	Photos by Mike Blair