Jerusalem clips Shigeoka, captures WBC crown

Melvin Jerusalem ended the country’s world title woes Sunday after scoring a hard-earned 12-round split decision over Yudai Shigeoka to win the World Boxing Council minimumweight crown in Nagoya, Japan.

It was a sweet victory for Jerusalem, who became a world champion for the second time after a short reign in 2023. Jerusalem would have lost the decision if it had not been for the two knockdowns scored by the Filipino in the third and sixth rounds.

Korean judge Jae Bong Kim and American Barry Linderan scored it 114-112 for Jerusalem while Australian Malcolm Bulner saw it 114-113 for Shigeoka, whose brother Ginjiro halted another Filipino, last-minute replacement Jake Amparo, in just two rounds to retain the International Boxing Federation mini-flyweight diadem earlier.

Jerusalem dropped Shigeoka with a sneaky counter right in the third round, and the embarrassed Japanese immediately got up to show that he was not hurt.

The second knockdown was produced in the sixth when Jerusalem unloaded with the same blow as they were in a heated exchange. By the seventh stanza, Shigeoka began to become even more aggressive, knowing that he was probably behind on the judges’ scoresheets.

He won the last three rounds by being aggressive and trigger-happy, but he could not land a powerful blow enough to deliver a come-from-behind win as Jerusalem wisely moved from side to side.

Jerusalem reigned as World Boxing Organization champion in the same 105-lb weight class last year, knocking out Masataka Taniguchi in just two rounds in Osaka in early January.

In his first defense, he traveled to the United States in May and lost the title to Puerto Rican Oscar Collazo when he quit on his stool at the end of the seventh round, saying the long journey from Manila and his being a first-timer in America affected him.