Jerusalem strips Japanese foe of WBC crown

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino boxer Melvin Jerusalem captured the WBC minimumweight championship after dealing Japanese foe Yudai Shigeoka his first professional loss last night in Nagoya, Japan.

Two judges scored the bout 114-112 in favor of Jerusalem, while the third one scored the contest 114-113 in favor of the hometown bet.

The Filipino knocked his opponent down twice in the match, landing a tough right blow in the third and another in the sixth round.

But despite these knockdowns, Shigeoka was able to fight on and go toe-to-toe with Jerusalem.

The Filipino fighter continued his aggressiveness throughout the match, but the Japaneses was able to stand his ground.

Ultimately, the match had to go to the judges’ scorecards, ending up in the Filipino being declared as the new 105-pound champ.

With the win, the 30-year-old Jerusalem is now holding a 22-3-0 boxing record. Shigeoka, on the other hand, dropped to 8-1.

Jerusalem is currently the sole Filipino world champion.

Earlier in the day, Filipino Jake Amparo failed to grab the IBF world minimumweight championship from Shigeoka’s brother, Ginjiro, after suffering a technical knockout defeat in the second round.