WORLD Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight king Melvin Jerusalem is thrilled to finally defend his belt at home in front of his Filipino fans.
“I’m very excited to finally defend my belt here in the Philippines. It’s always my dream to defend my belt here at home. That’s why I’ll do my best to be able to defend it,” the 30-year-old Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu.
Jerusalem is defending his WBC belt against undefeated Mexican prospect Luis Castillo on Sept. 22, 2024, in Mandaluyong City.
The pride of Bukidnon won the WBC strap after dethroning Japanese Yudai Shigeoka by split decision last March 31, 2024, in Japan.
Jerusalem is a two-time world champion. He bagged the World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimumweight title in January last year with a second-round stoppage of Masataka Taniguchi in Japan. His reign was short, though, as he lost the WBO belt in his first title defense four months later via a seventh-round stoppage in the hands of Oscar Collazo in California.
However, Jerusalem is in for a tough fight against the undefeated Castillo.
The 27-year-old Sinaloa native is on blazing trail since kicking off his career 10 years ago. Castillo owns wins over former world champion Mario Rodriguez and two-time world title challenger Abraham Rodriguez. His last victory was in 2023 when he totally outclassed Miguel Angel Herrera in Mexico.
Castillo will be fighting outside of Mexico for the first time in his career.
“He’s (Castillo) very good. He’s tall, he quickly throws his heavy punches, and he has good timing,” said Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is currently in training under the watchful eye of his mentor, Michael Domingo, at the Zip-Sanman Wellness Center. He’s been sparring in different gyms in Cebu. He already sparred with the likes of Mark Vicelles, Ramel Macado, and Jhon Magos.
He is one of the Philippines’ two current world champions. The other one is newly-crowned International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight titleholder Pedro Taduran.
Jerusalem is 22-3 with 12 knockouts, while Castillo is 21-0-1 with 13 knockouts.