MELVIN Jerusalem showed that he’s indeed ready for the bigger fights after beating fellow world-ranked Toto Landero in the main event of Idol 4 on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
“I’m ready (for bigger fights). I’ll show my best to achieve all my dreams,” the 24-year-old Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu.
All three judges had Jerusalem winning in their scorecards with scores of 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93.
“He showed his maturity last night. Melvin was calculated and dominated Landero who was not a pushover. A few more fights and he should be ready for a world title shot,” said ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.
If it were up to Jerusalem, he wants a rematch with World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight king Wanheng Menayothin, who beat him by a close unanimous decision last year.
“I know I did not show my best but in another world title fight I’ll show my very best. I want a rematch with Menayothin,” said Jerusalem, who’s currently ranked No. 3 in the WBC. “I’ll train harder and do my very best to reach my dreams and become a world champion.”
Jerusalem improved to 14-2 with eight knockouts, while Landero dropped to 10-4-2 with two knockouts.
Esneth Domingo (11-0, 6 KOs) continues his unbeaten streak after a convincing unanimous decision over Reymark Taday (9-7-1, 4 KOs).
The 20-year-old Domingo got the nod of the three judges with scores of 97-93, 97-92 and 99-91.
Christian Bacolod (10-0, 7 KOs) survived two knockdowns and beat Christoval Furog (5-1, 2 KOs) by a razor-thin split decision.
Bacolod got the nod of two judges with scores of 75-74 and 77-72, while the other judge saw it differently and gave it 77-72 in favor of Furog.
In the undercard, Joyjoy Formentera (10-3, 6 KOs) destroyed last-minute replacement Crison Omayao (24-18-4, 8 KOs) in five rounds. (EKA)