Ninth All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria-Boxing |16 July 2007
After trailing earlier on and losing the first round 6-8, Mellie, who fought in the red corner, exerted his dominance over Mare, giving him little room to manoeuvre. He scored a staggering eight points in the second round compared to Mare's three for a three-point - 14-11 - lead.
Despite the referee making a count of eight on him, Mellie widened the gap to four points - 17-13 - at the end of the third round and to five -20-15 - at the end of the bout.
It was a sweet win for Mellie and he dedicated it to his girlfriend and child.
The 24-year-old said "the fight was tough, but I did not lose hope. I remained concentrated on what I had to do. I have to thank coaches Jerry (Legras) and Pacheco (Pedro) for their good job."
Mellie's next opponent is Nigerian Ganiu Muideen who edged Ethiopian Daniel Tadele Kassa 22-21 in the day's second bout.
After having watched Muideen in action, Mellie said the "Nigerian will be a hard nut to crack."
The second Seychellois in action in the ring last Friday was MacFarlene Estrale who proved to be a brave fighter despite losing his 57kg bout.
After having taken some early punishments, losing the first two rounds 1-8 and 6-9, Estrale displayed the heart of a lion to go out chasing Muideen. He was successful to some extent as he completely dominated Muideen, winning the third and fourth rounds 6-4 and 5-4 respectively, but it was too little too late as the damage had already been done.
He lost the fight 18-25, but was congratulated by his coaches and those of other teams for his fighting spirit.
Almost out of breath after the fight for he had thrown everything into the bout in a bid to reverse the situation, Estrale said:
"I wanted to win but I could not. Otherwise, I'm satisfied with my performance. Hopefully, I can do much better next time," said Estrale.
On Saturday, Dave Cesar looked at ease in the ring and took things lightly against Gabonese Romeo Lamboumba.
In the end, he was outclassed early in the third round to lose his 51kg bout.
Cesar trailed Lamboumba 1-6 and 4-16 after the end of the first and second rounds. Still not his usual self in the third round, the referee made two counts of eight on Cesar and the second one was the final straw as Lamboumba had opened up a 20-point gap – the biggest allowed in boxing if the bout has reached the fourth and final round.
"I'm disappointed with myself. I gave him (Lamboumba) the fight. I was overconfident and I paid the price," said Cesar.