Jerusalem wins WBC crown

Leaning heavily on two knockdowns, Filipino Melvin Jerusalem edged defending champion Yudai Shigeoka on Sunday via a 12-round split decision to capture the World Boxing Council minimumweight crown in Nagoya, Japan.

Jerusalem scored a knockdown each in the third and sixth rounds to win on two of three scorecards.

Jae Bong Kim of Korea and Barry Lindeman of the United States saw it 114-112 for the Filipino while Malcolm Bulner of Australia had it 114-113 for Shigeoka.

Jerusalem’s stunning win made him the Philippines’ only world boxing champion.