HEADLINING a card billed as ‘The Thrilla in Manila 2’ on the golden anniversary of Ali-Frazier III, there was a degree of expectation on Melvin Jerusalem and Siyakholwa Kuse to perform in the main attraction. There, Jersualem was able to defend his WBC minimumweight world title for a third time.
Melvin Jerusalem, 25-3 (12 KOs), dethroned Yudai Shigeoka to get his hands on the WBC minimumweight title last year and he has since defended the belt on two occasions, overcoming Luis Castillo and then Shigeoka in a rematch in back-to-back points wins.
Today, ‘El Gringo’ was tasked with young South African southpaw, Siyakholwa Kuse, 9-3-1 (4 KOs), who travelled to the Philippines for his first professional contest outside of his home nation in search of an upset win on away soil.
Kuse had overcome compatriot Beaven Sibanda and then Jerusalem’s countryman, Samuel Salva, to earn this title shot, but dethroning the two-time champion was always going to be tougher than that recent triumph over a Filipino foe.
After a competitive start, where Kuse seemed to be timing shots well, the 22-year-old challenger was caught off-balance and sent crashing into the canvas in the third round by a looping left-hand.
However, confusingly, the referee determined that Kuse had slipped and refused to award the knockdown.
From this point onwards, Jerusalem seemed intent on searching for the fight-ending shot but was matched stride for stride offensively by Kuke, who offered intelligent and consistent work on the inside throughout.
Ahead of the 12th round, it was anyone’s guess as to who was in front, even with the open scoring provided by the WBC after the fourth and eighth rounds, but a strong finish from the champion seemed to secure the victory.
On the cards, it was confirmed that the judges preferred the aggression of the champion, with Jerusalem coming away with a unanimous decision (115-113, 116-112, 116-112) to retain his WBC minimumweight crown.
Jerusalem will now seek a rematch and three-belt unification clash with WBA and WBO titlist Oscar Collazo, 13-0 (10 KOs), or an all-Filipino showdown with IBF champion, Pedro Taduran, 19-4-1 (13 KOs).
Elsewhere on the bill, there was a fitting appearance at the Araneta Coliseum for Nico Ali Walsh, 11-2-1 (5 KOs), grandson of Muhammad Ali. Although, the 25-year-old could only muster a draw, against Thailand’s Kittisak Klinson, 10-2-1 (6 KOs), in their eight-round affair.
Additionally, in the co-main event, Eumir Felix Marcial extended his pro record to 7-0 (4 KOs), with a majority-decision victory over Eddy Colmenares, 11-3-1 (11 KOs), in a sensational fight of the year contender where the victor was floored twice.
