MANILA – Filipino boxer Melvin Jerusalem has successfully retained the WBC world minimumweight championship after outpointing Japanese fighter Yudai Shigeoka on Sunday night at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi, Japan.
All three judges were in favor of Jerusalem with judge Joseph Gwilt scoring it 118-110, judge Thawut Pheumsamran had it closer at 116-112, and judge Chris Tellez saw it at 119-109.
The Bukidnon-native Jerusalem Jerusalem was the aggressor in the opening round as he landed volume hits on Shigeoka before the latter responded with his own connections in the second round.
The 31-year-old Jerusalem regained his form in the third frame and unloaded heavy right hands on Shigeoka’s chin before he continued his volume hits in the succeeding rounds.
Shigeoka, meanwhile, tried to turn things around in the second half of the championship match as he unloaded flurry of hits on Jerusalem, but was not enough to turn the results around.
This was Jerusalem’s second victory against Shigeoka after he first defeated the Japanese fighter to capture the WBC world minimumweight belt last year in Nagoya, Japan.
However, this is Jerusalem’s second successful defense of his world championship after defeating Mexican Luis Castillo via unanimous decision on September, 2024 in Mandaluyong City.
With the victory, Jerusalem improved his boxing record to 24-3-0 win-loss-draw with 12 knockouts, while Shigeoka’s boxing slate now stands at 9-2-0 with five stoppage victories./PN
