MANILA, Philippines — Filipino boxer Melvin Jerusalem successfully defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight crown after repeating over Yudai Shigeoka in their rematch at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan on Sunday.
Dominant in the victory, Jerusalem won via unanimous decision with the scores 118-110, 116-112, and 119-109.
Jerusalem could not send Shigeoka to the canvas but he claimed the decisive win as he rained down combinations and practically outboxed the Japanese the entire way.
In their first encounter, Jerusalem knocked down Shigeoka twice but could only come up with a split decision triumph when he dethroned the latter last year.
This is the second successful title defense for Jerusalem with the first one being at the expense of Mexican Luis Castillo last September in Mandaluyong where he scored a UD victory.
Hailing from Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon, the 31-year-old Jerusalem is now on a four-fight winning run which started with a unanimous decision win over compatriot Francis Jay Diaz in October 2023.
Jerusalem hiked his win-loss record to 24-3 with 12 knockouts.
The 27-year-old Shigeoka, on the other hand, dropped to 9-2 with those defeats coming at the hands of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem thus far is gaining mastery over Japanese boxers — a thing that has been the opposite for his fellow Filipino puglists in recent years.
The 5-foot-2 Jerusalem claimed the World Boxing Association (WBA) variety of the minimumweight crown at the expense of Masataka Taniguchi in January 2023.
Now, he just repeated over Shigeoka.
