Gibbons sees slambang 2025 for Phl boxers

The sensational victory by World Boxing Council minimumweight king Melvin Jerusalem on home soil could be the spark Philippine boxing needs for a major comeback in 2025.

The influential American boxing man Sean Gibbons told DAILY TRIBUNE on Tuesday that next year promises to be a terrific year for world-rated Filipino boxers.

“Everyone’s getting opportunities to fight (for a world title). We’ve got Mark Magsayo, Marlon Tapales and (even) Jerwin Ancajas,” Gibbons said, noting that Jerusalem’s resounding win over Mexican mandatory challenger Luis Castillo over the weekend was quite a feat.

The Philippines has two world champions at the moment and aside from Jerusalem, the other is Pedro Taduran, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) ruler.

Taduran is booked to defend for the first time against Chinese knockout king Zhu Dianxing on 23 November in Jeju Island, Korea.

Gibbons believes Taduran has what it takes to remain as IBF champion and repulsing Zhu would enable the Philippines to close out the year with a big bang.

Jerusalem is likely to spend the rest of 2024 in training mode in preparation for a fight sometime in the first quarter.

In 2025, Gibbons expects Magsayo to get a shot at the super-feather crown. Tapales is also on the brink of securing a title try once Naoya Inoue vacates the super-bantam division and attempt to win a fifth world crown at feather.