MELVIN Jerusalem earned new fans for his gritty performance against World Boxing Council minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin last Wednesday night Phitsanulok, Thailand.

Jerusalem caught the eye of former manager of Timothy Bradley, Lee Bates, who is also a matchmaker.

“Very strong performance by Jerusalem. I would love to see him as a mandatory challenger and have the same fight in the Philippines or see him against another of the world champions,” said Bates in an email he sent ALA Gym founder Antonio L. Aldeguer, who forwarded it to SunStar Cebu.

Bates saw the Jerusalem-Menayothin fight through Facebook Live and was impressed with what he saw.

“I’m so proud of your fighter. I have never seen him fight...for him to step up like this as the visitor and being so young. Wow. I’m impressed. Going into this fight I was optimistic but now I’m even more impressed.”