WORLD Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight king Melvin Jerusalem defends his belt on home soil once again in what is billed as the country’s biggest boxing event this year.
Jerusalem faces South African challenger Siyakholwa Kuse in the main event of the “Thrilla in Manila” 50th Anniversary card Wednesday night, Oct. 29, 2025, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Both Jerusalem and Kuse tipped the scales at 104.8 pounds during the official weigh-in of fighters at the Gateway Mall 2 in Cubao.
The 31-year-old Jerusalem captured the WBC strap with a split decision victory over Yudai Shigeoka last year in Japan. He successfully defended his title a few months later here in the Philippines, dominating Mexican challenger Luis Castillo via a lopsided unanimous decision.
Earlier this year, Jerusalem returned to Japan for a rematch with Shigeoka and scored another decisive win by unanimous verdict.
The 22-year-old Kuse is coming into the fight with a hot streak of six straight wins. Despite just having 12 fights under his belt, Kuse made a strong impression with back-to-back triumphs.
He outlasted fellow world-rated Beaven Sibanda by majority decision to win the WBC Silver minimumweight belt and defeated former world title challenger Samuel Salva by a unanimous decision.
Jerusalem holds a record of 24 wins and three losses with 12 knockouts, while Kuse stands at 9-2-1 with four knockouts.
Undefeated World Boxing Organization No. 2 super-bantamweight Carl Jammes Martin (26-0, 20 KOs) takes on one-time world title challenger Aran Dipaen (21-4, 18 KOs) in the 10-round main supporting bout.
Nico Ali Walsh (11-2, 5 KOs), grandson of the legendary Muhammad Ali, is also seeing action in the show commemorating the 50th anniversary of the historic “Thrilla in Manila” fight between Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975. Walsh faces Thai boxer Kittisak Klinson (10-2, 6 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial (6-0, 4 KOs) locks horns with Venezualan knockout artist Eddy Colmenares (11-2-1, 11 KOs) for the WBC International middleweight strap in what is expected to be his stiffest test to date.
Former world champion Marlon Tapales (40-4, 21 KOs) slugs it out with Venezualan Fernando Toro (11-2, 9 KOs).
The card also features Russian fighters Georgiy Yunovidov and Vadim Tukov. Yunovidov (11-1, 7 KOs) faces South African Chris Thompson (16-6-1, 9 KOs) in a heavyweight bout, while Tukov (16-0, 7 KOs) clashes with former world title contender Sena Agbeko (29-4, 23 KOs) in a middleweight battle. / EKA