The first face-to-face meeting between Filipino defending champion Melvin Jerusalem and Mexican mandatory challenger Luis Castillo is taking place Monday morning during a flag-raising ceremony in Mandaluyong City, site of their title clash on 22 September.

Jerusalem is defending the World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight crown for the first time at the Mandaluyong City College Gym as a major presentation of Manny Pacquiao’s Blow-By-Blow.

Castillo and three companions — Eduardo Montiel and Adriana Penuelas and boxer Angel Francisco Sandoval — were expected to touch down in Manila late Saturday night after a long flight from their homebase in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state.

This will be the first time Castillo, a southpaw, will fight outside of his native Mexico and this is the reason why he decided to fly in eight days before his scheduled 12-rounder with Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, managed by ZIP Boxing of Nagoya and promoted by JC Mananquil of General Santos City, had won the WBC 105-lb belt after edging Yudai Shigeoka of Japan last March in Nagoya.