MELVIN Jerusalem eyes redemption for Philippine boxing Sunday as he vies for the WBC minimumweight championship against reigning champion Yudai Shigeoka at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.
The 30-year-old Filipino weighed in at 104 lbs or a pound below the weight limit, while the champion came in at 104.9 lbs during Saturday’s official weigh-in.
Jerusalem eyes second world title
Jerusalem is looking to win a second world title after briefly reigning as WBO minimumweight champion.
At the same time, the native of Bukidnon, fighting out of Sanman Promotions, hopes to put a stop to the string of losses suffered by Filipino boxers in Japan over the past three months.
Marlon Tapales lost in his undisputed super-bantamweight title bid against unbeaten Naoya Inoue, followed by Jerwin Ancajas failing in his bid to dethrone Naoya’s younger brother Takuma for the WBO bantamweight crown.
Former world title challenger Jonas Sultan also lost in a single round against rising Riku Masuda, with Dave Apolinario the only Filipino fighter to salvage a win during those three months following a sensational fourth-round knockout of Tanes Ongjunta in a similar non-title fight at flyweight after coming back from a third round knockdown.
But Jerusalem hopes to end the title jinx by winning over Shigeoka, who is making the first title defense since beating Panya Pradabasri of Thailand last year.
Jerusalem holds a 21-3 record with 12 KOs, while Shigeoka has lesser experience at 8-0 with 5 KOs.
Amparo challenges Ginjero Shigeoka
The Japan card is actually a double championship fight between Filipino and Japanese fighters as Shigeoka’s younger brother Ginjero stakes his IBF mini-flyweight crown against late-entry Jake Amparo.
A native of Guindilman, Bohol, Amparo (14-5-1, 3 KOs) was a last-minute replacement for ArAr Andales.
Ginjero Shigeoka, 24, is also making the first defense of his IBF crown which he won via a fifth round TKO against Daniel Valladares of Mexico last October. He holds a 10-0 record with 8 KOs.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
