MELVIN Jerusalem went the distance against Siyakholwa Kuse of South Africa before hacking out a unanimous decision to retain his WBC minimumweight title belt early Thursday morning at the Araneta Coliseum.
The reigning Filipino champion had a tentative start in the 12-round bout serving as the main event of the Thrilla in Manila 50th-anniversary card, but picked up the pace late to win by scores of 116-112, 115-113, and 116-112.
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The fight card which began late in the afternoon of Wednesday (Oct. 29) was so stacked the Jerusalem-Kuse title bout didn’t get underway until midnight of Thursday the following day and took about an hour to complete.
By the time ring announcer Ted Lerner announced the scorecards and Jerusalem as the winner, it was about 1:30 a.m. of Oct. 30.
Jerusalem, 31, tried to put on a show for those who remained at the Big Dome even in the wee hours of the day including fight promoter and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, and those who watched the livestream on IBA's YouTube channel.
But it took him a while before he figured out his sleek African challenger, who had former WBA junior-lightweight champion Brian Mitchell working his corner.
The Filipino champ though, managed to land the more telling blows especially in the final half of the bout.
Jerusalem had Kuse on wobbly legs in the final seconds of the 12th round after landing a solid right against the challenger from Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Fighting out of Sanman boxing, Jerusalem hiked his record to 25-3 (12 KOs) and retained his 105lbs title for the third time.
It likewise lined him up for a possible unification bout with WBA counterpart Oscar Collazo.
Kuse, just 22 years of age, suffered the third loss of his pro career, with nine wins and four KOs.
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