By MARK REY MONTEJO
Melvin Jerusalem did not disappoint in front of his roaring Filipino fans, beating erstwhile unbeaten Mexican Luis Castillo via unanimous decision to retain his WBC minimumweight crown at the jam-packed Mandaluyong City College Gymnasium Sunday evening, Sept. 22.
The 30-year-old Jerusalem displayed his speed and power which was highlighted by his 1-2 combo that put Castillo down the canvas in the first round – enough to dictate the tempo throughout their 12-round bout and convincingly win the the judges’ scorecard at 118-109, 120-107, and 120-107.
With his successful title defense, the pride of Bukidnon got his 23rd victory against three defeats while Castillo, a Sinaloa native, suffered his first loss for a 21-1-1 professional record.
This also marked the second time a WBC belt was defended on Philippine soil – the previous one was when Manny Pacquiao kept his flyweight title via a knockout win over Mexican Gabriel Mira at the Araneta Coliseum in 1999.
“Sobrang sarap po sa pakiramdam na nanalo po ako sa harap ng ating mga kababayan,” said Jerusalem after the fight.
“Inaalay ko po ‘to sa sambayanang Pilipino, sana po tuloy-tuloy na ‘to,” he added.
Jerusalem immediately made his presence felt in the first two rounds as he landed solid punches on his Mexican rival and scored a knockdown in the opening canto.
In the third and fourth rounds, Castillo regained his composure and dropped some hard hits, but the Filipino boxer held his ground.
Castillo engaged Jerusalem in a dogfight in rounds 8 and 10, but the former couldn’t catch his big break as the crowd cheered on for the hometown hero.
Meanwhile, former IBF world title holder Jerwin Ancajas was victorious after the referee disqualified his Thai rival Sukpraserd Ponpitak in their non-title bantamweight bout.
The win improved Ancajas’ record to a 35-4-2 while handing Sukpraserd his 20th defeat.
Other winners in the slugfest were rising stars Gabriel Santisima , Kevin Villanueva, Melchor Roda, Charlie Adtoon, Reycar Escriber and Perlito Exclamado Jr.
The event was organized by Pacquiao’s Blow-By-Blow show which served as a springboard for the local and aspiring boxers to further achieve their dreams in the sport.
