Mouthwatering matchup

Melvin Jerusalem vs Pedro Taduran.

This is a matchup that is not really feasible at this time but could end up taking place.

Jerusalem is the holder of the World Boxing Council (WBC) strawweight crown while Taduran is the International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight title.

Although the weight classes sound different, they’re one and the same.

It has a division limit of 105 lbs.

Now, you’ll probably be asking: Who is the World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion?

Well, he is no other than Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico.

He became the unified champion after annexing the WBA jewels from Niyomtrong Thammanoon of Thailand via an impressive knockout victory last year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

While there is no official word or order yet, Collazo was very vocal about his plans.

After stopping Thammanoon, he expressed the desire to win all four belts.

Now that he already has two, getting the remaining is his next goal.

But would Collazo take it one fight at a time or go after the two belts in one fight?

A little bird told me that Collazo might be interested on facing a fellow unified champion.

If that’s the case, Taduran and Jerusalem will have to fight each other to determine who’s getting the ticket to meet Collazo in an all-important unification showdown.

Personally, I am not too keen on seeing Taduran and Jerusalem engaging in a box-off for the right to collide with the Puerto Rican banger for all the marbles.

But I am not saying that I am against it either.

The ideal setting for me is for one of them getting called to battle Collazo with the winner tangling with the remaining titleholder.

So, if Collazo gets beat either by Taduran or Jerusalem, then it will be just right that the titles be unified.

However, that’s getting ahead of the story.

In fact, Jerusalem has to take care of business first on 30 March in Tokoname, Japan, as he defends against former champion Yudai Shigeoka in a rematch.

And Taduran?

The Bicol native is also in talks to duke it out with Ginjiro Shigeoka sometime in May in another rematch.

It would be perfect if Jerusalem and Taduran succeed in defending their belts to make them potential foes for Collazo.

And if the money’s right for Jerusalem and Taduran, who am I to stand in their way?

I am sure they would rather not fight each other.

But if there’s no other choice, they are professional enough to realize that it’s not purely personal.

Would I be covering it?

Bet the rent money that I’d be there.