Risky business

I am a bit worried about Melvin Jerusalem’s fourth defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) strawweight crown on 16 May in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jerusalem meets Siyakholwa Kuse in a rematch following the close ending to their highly-competitive first clash last October during the Thrilla in Manila golden anniversary celebrations.

The Filipino fighter was smarting from a missed chance at battling Puerto Rico’s Oscar Collazo and opted to sign a contract to defend against Kuse so he could stay active.

At first, the camp of Jerusalem thought it had a good deal in place when it was revealed that the South African promoters were willing to bring him in three weeks before the fight.

But it doesn’t look like Jerusalem will be there early after all as the Bukidnon-born champion told DAILY TRIBUNE that he will arrive in South Africa two weeks before the fight.

Still, two weeks before is way, way better than getting there a few days before the fight as what has happened through the years whenever South Africa imports Filipinos.

But I could not help but express concern because of Jerusalem’s history.

During his first reign as world champion, Jerusalem arrived in the United States nine days before his defense of the World Boxing Organization minimumweight crown against Collazo in Indio, California.

Jerusalem was in the fight until the fourth or fifth rounds when he started melting away.

At the end of the seventh, during the rest period entering the eighth canto, Jerusalem’s corner threw in the towel.

It was later learned that Jerusalem was still battling jet lag by the time he entered the ring.

Against Kuse in May on hostile ground, that could happen again given the bad record of Filipinos fighting over there in Johannesburg, which is 5,750 feet above sea level, another factor that makes winning difficult.

But Jerusalem is training like hell, knowing that he can’t afford not to.

The dream of eventually locking horns with Collazo solely depends on the outcome of the Kuse encounter.

That goes out the window if he returns home no longer the champion.

And that alone is a reason for him to push himself to the limit.

Losing grip of the WBC belt means the world to Jerusalem.