MELVIN Jerusalem knocked down Siyakholwa Kuse late in their 12-round title fight, but it wasn't enough to retain his WBC minimumweight crown against the challenger on Sunday morning (Manila time) at the Emperor’s Palace in South Africa.
The deposed Filipino champion sent the African down in the 11th round to score the lone knockdown of the rematch that came seven months since their first encounter during the 50th anniversary of the Thrilla in Manila at the Araneta Coliseum.
But the late turn of events didn’t alter the outcome of the bout as Kuse walked away with a unanimous decision via scores of 116-111, 116-112, and 115-111.
Jerusalem suffered a long cut on his left eye following an accidental clash of heads in the third round, which Kuse was quick to take advantage as the Filipino fought the rest of the way with blood freely pouring down from the damaged eye.
The 32-year-old Jerusalem, who arrived in South Africa three weeks before the fight along with trainer Michael Domingo, was humble in defeat.
“No excuses, guys,” he said in a Facebook Live from his hotel room, claiming he was head butted for the first time in his career, not just once but thrice including one that caused a cut above the forehead.
“Yung mga naniniwala sa akin, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat. Hindi sa atin ngayon yung araw. Congrats kay Kuse.”
The loss by Jerusalem left IBF mini-flyweight title holder Pedro Taduran as the country’s lone world champion today.
Fighting out of Sanman Promotions of JC Manangquil, Jerusalem saw his record fall to 25-4 (12 KOs) as he couldn’t repeat the unanimous decision he scored against the 22-year-old South African in Manila last October.
Kuse won the early rounds as he found a perfect target on the long cut suffered by the bloodied Filipino on his right eye.
The newly-crowned champion, who had his left eye almost shut to a close, already gained enough momentum that not even the late knock down could turn around the tide in Jerusalem’s favor.
He raised his record to 10-3 with 4 KOs.
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