Melvin Jerusalem wins over Shigeoka, ends Philippines' world title drought

Melvin Jerusalem once again ended the country's world title drought in boxing following a split decision victory over Japan's Yudai Shigeoka on Sunday at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

Jerusalem, 30, in 2023 became the Philippines' first boxing world champion of that year when he went to enemy territory and defeated Masataka Taniguchi by way of second-round technical knockout.

After a failed title defense and a year later, Jerusalem pulled off a shocker in enemy territory anew by defeating Shigeoka on points to snatch the WBC world minimumweight title.

Jerusalem relied on his patented right hand throughout the contest to score points and two knockdowns over the course of twelve rounds. Shigeoka was a game opponent, never letting off despite having a trip to the canvas twice.

In the end, two of the three judges saw the fight for Jerusalem, improving his record to 22-3 with 12 knockouts while Shigeoka tasted defeat for the first time as he fell to 8-1 with 5 knockouts. The scorecards were 114-112, 114-112, and 113-114.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News