FIFTY years ago, on Oct. 1, 1975, boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier put on a show at the Araneta Coliseum, famously known as The Thrilla in Manila.
To commemorate that momentous fight, which was named the “Fight of the Year” in 1975, Hall-of-Famer Manny Pacquiao will stage a huge boxing event at that same iconic arena on Oct. 29, 2025.
World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight king Melvin Jerusalem takes center stage as he defends his title against budding South African star Siyakholwa Kuse in the main event.
“Huge thanks to boss Manny (Pacquiao) for giving me another opportunity to be able to fight in my home country. I’m very happy that I’ll be able to give the Filipino fans another good show,” Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu.
The 31-year-old Jerusalem was impressive in his last world title defense last March 30, 2025, in Japan. He dominated now-retired Yudai Shigeoka by unanimous decision.
This will be Jerusalem’s second world title defense in the Philippines. He defended his crown last year in Mandaluyong City by defeating Luis Castillo via lopsided unanimous decision.
Kuse, the WBC Silver minimumweight champion, was originally slated to face Jerusalem’s Saman Boxing teammate Joey Canoy in a WBC world title eliminator. But Kuse’s road to a world title shot was fast-tracked after being picked as Jerusalem’s challenger.
The 22-year-old Kuse is rated No. 2 by the WBC. He’s coming off the biggest win of his career following a unanimous decision victory over Pinoy former world title challenger Samuel Salva last May 31, 2025, in South Africa.
“He has the amatuer boxing style of fighting. He’s really good. I think he’s a little bit taller than me. I really have to watch out with all of his punches. I always believe that all my opponents are good boxers and that I won’t take them lightly,” said Jerusalem of his upcoming challenger.
Jerusalem is 24-3 with 12 knockouts, while Kuse is 9-2-1 with four knockouts.
Jerusalem is currently training in Japan. He will stay there for a few more weeks before returning to Cebu City and continuing his training camp at the Zip-Sanman Wellness Center in Banawa.
Meanwhile, Mark Magsayo (28-2, 18 KOs) takes on Michael Magnesi (28-4, 13 KOs) in a WBC super-featherweight title eliminator in the co-main event.
The winner of the title eliminator becomes the mandatory challenger of WBC super-featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster. On the other hand, the grandson of Ali, Nico Ali Walsh (11-2, 5 KOs), is also seeing action in the stacked card. The show also features some of the best Filipino fighters and promising Pinoy prospects.
Some of the Pinoy boxers that are booked for the event are former world champion Marlon Tapales (40-4, 21 KOs), undefeated Carl Jammes Martin (26-0, 20 KOs), Olympian Eumir Marcial (6-0, 4 KOs), hard-hitting Weljohn Mindoro (15-0-1, 15 KOs), Arvin Magramo (19-2-1, 11 KOs), Albert Francisco (14-1, 10 KOs), Roderick Bautista (8-0, 6 KOs), Benny Cañete (12-2, 8 KOs), Eman Bacosa (6-0-1, 4 KOs), and Ronerick Ballesteros (5-0-1, 4 KOs). / EKA