Melvin Jerusalem ends Philippine boxing's world title drought with stoppage of Taniguchi

Melvin Jerusalem has ended the Philippines' world title drought in boxing with a second-round technical knockout over Masataka Taniguchi to snatch the WBO world minimumweight champion this Friday evening at EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan.

The 28-year-old Jerusalem needed to land just one textbook right straight in round two to send the hometown favorite crashing to the canvas. Taniguchi tried to get up, only to stumble on his face and fall down again when he stood up with shaky legs.

The referee had seen enough after he made two trips to the canvas in one knockdown, prompting the ring official to halt the contest at the 1:04 mark of the second round. The win improved Jerusalem’s professional record to 20-2 with 12 knockouts.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News