MELVIN Jerusalem and Jake Amparo will try to end the country’s absence of a world champion change when they face the Shigeoka brothers on Sunday, March 31, 2024, at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.
“We’ll do our best to bring back the belts back home, so that we’ll have world champions. In God’s will,” Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu.
Jerusalem, a former world champion, eyes his second reign in the minimumweight division as he challenges World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight titleholder Yudai Shigeoka in the main event, while Amparo faces International Boxing Federation minimumweight champion Ginjiro Shigeoka.
Jerusalem weighed in at 104 pounds, while Yudai was slightly heavier at 104.8 pounds in the weigh-in.
Amparo also made weight at 104.2 pounds, while Ginjiro was at 104.7 pounds.
“I need a knockout to win this,” Jerusalem said. “It will be hard winning by decision. If the moment comes, I will go for the kill. If this fight is for me, it will be for me.”
The 30-year-old Jerusalem won the World Boxing Organization minimumweight strap last year after a second-round technical knockout of Japanese Masataka Taniguchi in Osaka, Japan. His reign, however, was short as he lost his belt in his first title defense months later following a seventh-round stoppage loss to Oscar Collazo in the US.
Jerusalem, who trains at the Zip-Sanman Wellness Center in Cebu, bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Francis Jay Diaz late last year.
The 26-year-old Yudai became the interim WBC minimumweight champion with a seventh-round knockout of Wilfredo Mendez in Tokyo, Japan last year. He followed that up with a unanimous decision win over regular titleholder Panya Pradabsri to become the sole WBC minimumweight chanpion late last year in Tokyo.
Jerusalem is 21-3 with 12 knockouts, while Yudai is 8-0 with five knockouts.
Amparo is coming as a last-minute replacement for Ar-Ar Andales, who was forced to pull out just a week before the fight after suffering an illness. (EKA)