Melvin Jerusalem made his name in world title fights abroad. Now he finally gets one at home.
The Filipino road fighter will make the first defense of the WBC strawweight title on September 22 when he faces mandatory challenger Luis Castillo at Mandaluyong City College Gymnasium in Metro Manila.
The 30-year-old Jerusalem (22-3, 12 KOs) of Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon Province, Philippines captured the title in March defeating Yudai Shigoeka by split decision in Japan and is now in his second reign as champion . He won the WBO 105-pound title in January 2023, defeating Masataka Taniguchi in the second round, before losing it to Oscar Collazo in the seventh round just four months later.
Now, with hometown advantage for a change, Jerusalem hopes to avoid the first defensive jinx that befell him during his first reign.
“I am very happy that I will be defending my WBC belt here in my hometown. I will do my best to defend the belt and I will give a good fight in the ring,” said Jerusalem, who is ranked no. 3 by The Ring at 105 pounds while his opponent no. 10.
“Castillo is a tough undefeated Mexican. He is a great fighter and you know Mexicans always come and fight so it will be a fun fight,” said Jim Claude Manangquil, whose Sanman Boxing promotes Jerusalem.
“But Jerusalem’s skills and right hand will be too much for him.”
Castillo (21-0-1, 13 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico will be fighting outside his home country for the first time in his ten-year career. The 27-year-old, a southpaw like four of Jerusalem’s last five opponents, has fought few notable opponents so far, with the most notable being former title challenger Abraham Rodriguez, who stopped Castillo in six rounds in 2022. Castillo was not special. active in recent years, having not fought since his ten-round unanimous decision win last November against Miguel Angel Herrera, which was his first fight since the Rodriguez fight 15 months earlier.
“We already have a game plan for my opponent. He’s a good and tall boxer, but that’s no problem because I know how to adjust in the fight,” said Jerusalem, who is trained by former bantamweight contender Michael Domingo in Cebu province and by Nobuyuki and Marivic Matsuura are managed.
“We have been preparing for how many months for this fight and I will give my best to this fight to defend my WBC belt.”
Manangquil credits Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions for helping bring the fight to the Philippines. He says Gibbons approached Manny Pacquiao about airing the fight on his weekly boxing show, Manny Pacquiao Presents: Blow by Blow. The show is also sponsored by Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr., who makes admission to the show free for the public, as well as the oil company Petron.
“Manny said he wouldn’t let Melvin go on the road for his first defense. We thank Manny Pacquiao for all this,” Manangquil said.
World title fights in the Philippines are extremely rare as the televised and live gate market is usually much more lucrative. The last world title fight to take place in the Philippines was the IBF strawweight title fight between Pedro Taduran and Rene Mark Cuarto in February 2022, although there were no spectators due to COVID-19 protocols. Before that, the last title fight in the Philippines was the vacant IBF junior flyweight title fight between Randy Petalcorin and Felix Alvarado in 2018.
The undercard is scheduled to feature former IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas (34-4-2, 23 KOs) against Thailand’s Sukpraserd Ponpitak (30-19, 20 KOs) in a ten-round bout, his first appearance will be since he lost. his challenge of WBA bantamweight titleholder Takuma Inoue by ninth-round knockout in February.
Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at (email protected).
