Believe it or not, defending champion Melvin Jerusalem is the clear underdog when he meets Japanese challenger Yudai Shigeoka in their 30 March showdown for the World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight crown.

Although Jerusalem had beaten Shigeoka in their first meeting in March last year in Nagoya, oddsmakers seem to be unconvinced that the Filipino titleholder is the better fighter.

The odds have listed Jerusalem as +180 and Shigeoka -225.

These figures translate to a $100 bet on a Jerusalem victory gets $180 in return and a $225 wager on Shigeoka wins just $100.

This marks the fifth time Jerusalem enters a world title fight not the bettor’s pick after being installed as underdog against Shigeoka last year. He was also the underdog when he fought Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico in May 2023, Masataka Taniguchi of Japan in January 2023 and Chayaphon Monnsri of Thailand in January 2017.

Collazo and Moonsri beat Jerusalem while Taniguchi fell to Jerusalem by knockout.

It was only against mandatory challenger Luis Castillo of Mexico last year in Manila when Jerusalem was the favorite.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem and his lead trainer Michael Domingo paid a courtesy call to their former benefactor Antonio L. Aldeguer (ALA) over the weekend in Cebu.

Jerusalem started out as an Aldeguer fighter like Domingo, who also fought under the ALA banner.