MANO A MANO: Jerusalem risks WBC crown against Mexican No. 1

There was a moment during the official weighin on Saturday morning that Mexican challenger Luis Castillo won’t make the division limit of 105 lbs.

Castillo had to return to his hotel room to get rid of excess baggage after finding out during a test-weighin that he was a pound over on the eve of his crack at Filipino Melvin Jerusalem’s coveted World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight title at the Mandaluyong City College Gym.

Good thing that Castillo’s hotel was just a few kilometers away and when he returned for the official weighin at the Mandaluyong City College, the mandatory challenger and his trainer Eduardo Montiel, looked relieved.

And when he stepped on the scales, they were right on the money.

“Luis Castillo, official weight, 104.8 lbs,” shouted the official from the Games and Amusements Board.

Jerusalem, who didn’t have to go the extra mile, was spot on as well.

“Melvin Jerusalem, official weight, 104.8 lbs.”

Though unbeaten in 22 fights, Castillo, who has logged 98 total rounds, will be fighting for the first time outside Mexico.

Jerusalem, holder of a 22-3 mark with 12 knockouts, is the favorite to send Castillo home empty-handed.

“Castillo can fight,” remarked Blow-By-Blow staffer Migs Elorde, noting, however, that the support of the home crowd should help Jerusalem repulse the gutsy No. 1 contender from the boxing hotbed of Los Mochis in Sinaloa state.

“He punches in bunches,” Elorde added.

Having racked up 152 rounds of actual fights, Jerusalem stunned Yudai Shigeoka to win the WBC strap last March in Nagoya. He pulled it off on the strength of two knockdowns.

A victory over Castillo could propel him to a rematch with World Boxing Organization king Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico or Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, the World Boxing Association ruler.

Collazo had beaten Jerusalem last year but the Cebu-based Filipino insists he was not physically prepared since he came to the United States just ten days before the bout.

JC Mananquil, who promotes and manages Jerusalem, revealed that a clash with either Collazo or Niyomtrong could happen in the first quarter of next year.

But Mananquil is not giving it much thought since Jerusalem has to clear a major roadblock first.

Manny Pacquiao’s Blow-By-Blow is staging the scheduled 12-rounder, the first world title fight the weekly boxing show has put together.

“As we celebrate our second year of providing intense ring action on television, finally, here we are holding a world championship fight under the WBC banner,” said Pacquiao, who, himself is a former WBC champion at flyweight.

Also seeing action in the 14-fight card is ex-world super-flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, who will make his featherweight debut against Thailand’s Sukprased Ponpitak in a ten-rounder.

The WBC-appointed officials for the main event are referee Yuji Fukuji of Japan, judges Shin Kyoung-ha of Korea, Stephen Blea of the United States and Arnulfo Najera of the Philippines. Tsuyoshi Yasukochi of Japan will be the fight supervisor.