Melvin Jerusalem lands a right hand on Luis Castillo. Photo by Wendell Alinea/MP Promotions
Melvin Jerusalem made it look easy in the first defense of his WBC strawweight title on Sunday, outboxing previously undefeated Luis Castillo en route to a unanimous decision victory at Mandaluyong City College in Metro Manila, Philippines. The scores were 120-107 on two cards and 118-109 on the third.
Jerusalem (23-3, 12 KOs) scored the fight’s only knockdown in the first round, dropping the taller Castillo (21-1-1, 13 KOs) on a straight right hand through the guard. Castillo beat the count, but the pattern was set as the more explosive Jerusalem used the aggression of the slower, plodding Castillo at will.
Jerusalem pressed for the knockout in the tenth round, repeatedly backing Castillo with straight right hands before returning to box and driving to the finish line.
Photo by Wendell Alinea/MP Promotions
The bout was the first world title fight for the 30-year-old Jerusalemite from Manolo Fortich, Philippines in his home country, having captured both the WBC title and the WBO strawweight belt he previously held in Japan and his only defense of the WBO belt in the United States.
Jerusalem is ranked as no. 4 by The Ring at 105 pounds, one spot below IBF titleholder Pedro Taduran, who is the only other current champion from the Philippines, and three spots below Oscar Collazo, the undefeated Puerto Rican who defeated him for the WBO title last year have.
Southpaw Castillo, 27, is losing for the first time as a professional, although he has made a significant leap in competition, having not fought any big-name contenders in his ten-year career in Mexico.
In earlier action, former titleholder Jerwin Ancajas (35-4-2, 23 KOs) made his return to the ring following his knockout loss to Takuma Inoue in February, and Thai craftsman Sukpraserd Ponpitak (30-20, 20 KOs ) by fifth round defeat disqualification.
The fight ended after Ponpitak, who was dropped by a right hook in round one and deducted a point in the third for roughhousing, Ancajas took frustration out on the canvas. The referee stopped the fight at the 2:34 mark and awarded Ancajas the win.
Ancajas, 32, weighed a career-high 125 1/4, the same as his opponent. The win was just the second in his last five fights after his IBF junior bantamweight title ended in February 2022 with a pair of losses to Fernando Martinez.
