Jerusalem retains WBC minimumweight crown

Melvin Jerusalem scored a savage knockdown in the first round as he dominated mandatory Mexican challenger Luis Castillo en route to a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision on Sunday in Mandaluyong.

The scorecards read: 118-109, 120-107, 120-107.

It was a surprisingly easy win by the Filipino, who was making the first defense of the WBC 104-lb title he had won last March in Nagoya.

It appeared that Jerusalem was on his way to a knockout win when he sent Castillo down after unleashing a sneaky right to the jaw in the opening canto.

But Castillo stayed upright the rest of the way although he got subjected to a lot of pain and punishment by doing so.