WORLD Boxing Organization (WBO) minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem is confident that he’ll be ready for his first title defense in the next few months, which would most likely be against mandatory challenger Oscar Collazo.
Jerusalem has already watched the past fights of his possible foe and he likes his chances against him.
“He’s good. I need to be quick and time my punches well because he has that skillful amateur style. But if it reaches the distance, I won’t allow him to beat me on points,” Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu.
The WBO recently ordered Jerusalem to defend his belt against Collazo in a mandatory title defense. Collazo earned the No. 1 spot after the unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect knocked out Yudel Reyes in a WBO minimumweight title eliminator last Jan. 28 in Inglewood, California.
The WBO, through championship committee head Luis Batista Salas, issued a letter to both parties on Jan. 30 to negotiate for a world championship fight. The WBO has given both camps 15 days to agree on a fight or else it will go to a purse bid.
Jerusalem is promoted and handled by Sanman Promotions and ZIP Boxing, while Collazo is under the Golden Boy Promotions banner of boxing legend Oscar dela Hoya.
The 28-year-old Jerusalem achieved his world championship dream after dethroning Masataka Taniguchi with a rousing second round technical knockout on Jan. 6 at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan.
Collazo has a ton of hype after an impressive seven-year amateur campaign that earned him a gold medal in the Pan American Games in 2019. He transitioned well into the pro ranks in 2020 and proved that he’s a world championship caliber fighter after a unanimous decision win over veteran former world champion Vic Saludar last year.
Jerusalem, however, feels that he has the advantage in terms of experience because he has fought some of the elite names in the division, the likes of Taniguchi, ex-world champion Wanheng Menayothin, former world titleholder Florante Condes, experienced Joey Canoy and the late former world title challenger Toto Landero.
“My advantage is my experience,” he said. “I’ll give everything in this fight. I’m just waiting on the decision of my manager and promoter. But on my end, I’ll be ready to fight.”
Jerusalem is 20-2 with 12 knockouts, while the 26-year-old Collazo is 6-0 with four knockouts.