SECOND chances don’t usually come by too often. But luckily for World Boxing Council minimumweight king Melvin Jerusalem, he’ll get another crack at World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) minimumweight champion Oscar Collazo in a rematch on March 14, 2026, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
“This is my second chance,” Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu. “I’m very happy that I’ve been given another chance to beat him in this fight. We’re really preparing well for this fight.”
Jerusalem and Collazo first fought in 2023. Jerusalem was then the WBO minimumweight champion and was defending his belt against Collazo in Indio, California. He was stopped by Collazo in the seventh round.
In his first fight with Collazo, Jerusalem went to the US less than two weeks before the fight, which made it difficult for him to adjust to the time zone and the weather.
The 31-year-old Jerusalem and his team won’t make the same mistake this time, as they will be in the US early, a month before his world title unification bout with Collazo. He’ll be leaving for the US on Sunday, Feb. 15, along with his coach Michael Domingo and his sparring partner Kiyoto Narukami. Jerusalem will be training at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
“Going there early will be good for me. I’ll be able to adjust. For this fight, we’ve also added some improvements from our first fight. I’ve been preparing hard for this fight,” said Jerusalem.
After his loss to Collazo, Jerusalem immediately earned a shot the following year against then WBC champion Yudai Shigeoka in Japan. Jerusalem put on an impressive performance and walked away with a split decision win over Shigeoka, becoming a two-time minimumweight world champion.
Jerusalem proved that his first win over Shigeoka was no fluke as he scored a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Shigeoko in their rematch last year in Japan.
The 29-year-old Collazo, on the other hand, paved his own path to greatness and unified the WBO and WBA minimumweight belts with a seventh-round stoppage of Thammanoon Niyomtrong, who was then considered the best 105-pounder, in their unification bout in Saudi Arabia.
Collazo is coming off a seventh-round knockout win over Jerusalem’s compatriot, Jayson Vayson, in Indio, California, last Sept. 20, 2025.
Jerusalem is 25-3 with 12 knockouts, while Collazo is undefeated at 13-0 with 10 knockouts. / EKA