PLANS are now afoot for Melvin Jerusalem to defend his World Boxing Council minimumweight title in a stacked Filipino fight card in celebration of the golden anniversary of the Thrilla in Manila in October.
MP Promotions will be at the forefront of what would be the biggest gathering of prominent Filipino boxers under one fight card in recent memory.
READ: Jerusalem retains WBC title after dominant win vs Shigeoka
Former world champion Mark Magsayo is likely to fight in the main undercard in a title eliminator match, while two-time Olympian Eumir Marcial, undefeated bantamweight prospect Carl James Martin, and possibly former International Boxing Federation super-flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas will be included in the fight card, according to MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons.
The event is also being considered as the launchpad of Jimuel Pacquiao's professional boxing career.
"We're off and running for the Thrilla in Manila. Everything is good," said Gibbons.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman later confirmed that the boxing body is lining up Jerusalem for a second defense of his 105lbs title which he retained last March via unanimous decision against former champion Yudai Shigeoka of Japan.
Venue of the boxing special is the historic Araneta Coliseum, where legendary fighters Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier battled it out on October 1, 1975 in a drama-filled title fight that went down as among the greatest in boxing history.
Ali, who beat Frazier via stoppage in the 14th round, described the back-and-forth fight as 'the closest thing to death.'
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