Melvin Jerusalem is cutting down on his sparring sessions but it doesn’t mean that the Filipino world champion is compromising the quality of his workouts.
About three weeks before defending the World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight title in a rematch with Yudai Shigeoka, Jerusalem was advised by his lead trainer to begin tapering off.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) was our last long sparring day,” Michael Domingo told DAILY TRIBUNE after presiding over Tuesday’s total of 14 rounds of sparring with three fighters.
“We would still be sparring but the number of rounds will be lower,” he added, noting that the WBC 105-lb champion is on the right track.
Still, other facets of the preparation would proceed as scheduled and the only time gets to relax would be when his team arrives in Nagoya for the 30 March fight at the Aichi Sky Expo.
Jerusalem had won the WBC crown by edging Shigeoka on a split decision in Nagoya a year ago, leaning heavily on two knockdowns to post the upset.
In his first defense — a mandatory in September last year — he easily defeated Mexico’s Luis Castillo on home soil.
Jerusalem floored Castillo in the very first round and had him in trouble on a few occasions en route to the lopsided unanimous decision win in Mandaluyong.
While it may have appeared that Jerusalem has Shigeoka’s number, the champion and his team are not taking everything for granted.
“We will do our best to score a knockout because it would be risky if the fight goes the distance,” said one of Jerusalem’s handlers.
Shigeoka spent about a couple of weeks in the country for training before heading back to Japan.
Jerusalem also did the same thing as he did an 18-day strength and conditioning training under the watchful eyes of his Japanese managers, Nobuyuki and Marivic Matsuura before setting up camp with Domingo in Cebu City.
JC Mananquil, who officially represents Jerusalem locally and internationally, is not leaving any stone unturned in their bid to return home with the WBC belt still strapped around the Bukidnon-born fighter’s waist.
Team Jerusalem is temporarily scheduled to fly to Nagoya a full week before the fight.