All news tagged MelvinJerusalem

Filipino warriors stood tall in an electrifying night of boxing at the Thrilla in Manila II card, as Marlon Tapales, Melvin Jerusalem, Eumir Marcial, and Carl Jammes Martin each delivered spectacular victories before a roaring home crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Tapales Ends Venezuelan’s Dream Run 

Venezuela’s Fernando Toro came charging for glory against former world champion Marlon “The Nightmare” Tapales, but the Filipino veteran unleashed his fury to score a sixth-round stoppage in their super bantamweight clash. Tapales improved to 25-4 (22 KOs).

Jerusalem Retains WBC Crown Reigning 

WBC minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem successfully defended his title for the third time, outpointing South Africa’s Siyakholwa Kuse via unanimous decision. Scores read 115-113, 116-112, 116-112 — all for the Filipino, who now boasts a 25-3 (12 KOs) record.

Marcial Survives Two Knockdowns, Captures WBC International Title 

Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial proved his heart and grit, surviving two knockdowns to defeat Venezuela’s Eddy Colmenares via majority decision in their WBC International middleweight title bout. Scores were 94-94, 95-93, 95-93, with Marcial improving to 7-0.

Martin Stays Unbeaten with Comeback Win 

Unbeaten prospect Carl Jammes Martin showed championship resilience, recovering from a third-round knockdown to dominate Thailand’s Aran Dipaen and score a unanimous decision victory, capturing the WBO International super bantamweight title and keeping his 27-0 (24 KOs) record intact.

From Tapales’ vintage power to Marcial’s iron will, the Thrilla in Manila II proved that Filipino boxing remains alive, dangerous, and ready to conquer the world once again.

Melvin Jerusalem successfully defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight belt after a convincing unanimous decision win over Yudai Shigeoka in their rematch on March 30, 2025, at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi, Japan. 

And like their first match, the Filipino boxer was able to take his opponent apart piece by piece right from the get-go with smooth precision.

The Pinoy boxer kept on coming with volume punches, connecting on combinations that left his opponent with a bloody nose. 

He then kept the pressure on until the last round of their fight, not slowing down as Shigeoka continuously struggled to connect with his punches.

Unlike the first match, there were no knockdowns this time around, but the dominance was still shown by the Filipino 31-year-old fighter and champion.

Judge Joseph Gwilt scored it 118-110, judge Thawut Pheumsamran had it closer at 116-112 and judge Chris Tellez saw it at 119-109. 

This is the second time that Jerusalem successfully defended his belt and further improved his record to 24-3 with 12 knockouts, while Shigeoka dropped to 9-2 with five knockouts. 

Last year, Jerusalem also won the title against Shigeoka also in Japan via split decision.

Now that Jerusalem won the fight against his Japanese foe, he dreams of a rematch with unified 105-pound titlist Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico.

It has been almost two years since the 31-year-old Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon native was stripped of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title in a crushing seventh-round technical knockout loss to Collazo last May 27, 2023.