Referee Teddy Alivio declares Melvin Jerusalem the winner against Toto Landero in the main event of the IDOL Boxing Series 4 at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
CDN PHOTO/GLENDALE ROSAL
After scoring an impressive victory over Toto Landero, Melvin “Gringo” Jerusalem hopes he has made enough noise to attract a bigger fight soon.
A world title fight is what is on his mind.
The 24-year-old Jerusalem of Bukidnon, a former world title challenger, defeated Landero via unanimous decision Saturday evening in the main event of the IDOL Boxing Series 4 at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
“I badly want to fight for a world title again,” Jerusalem said. “I showed them a different version of me in this fight and I proved it to them that I am already matured.”
Judges Arnel Pasion and Neil Papas both scored it 98-92 while Noel Flores had it at 97-93 all in favor of Jerusalem.
“I want to become a world title contender again and go back to Thailand. If ever they give me a permission to fight for a world title again, I will not hesitate [to go],” said Jerusalem, who improved to 14-2-0 (win-loss-draw).
In 2017, Jerusalem, who was then unbeaten, went to Thailand to face World Boxing Council World (WBC) minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin. Unfortunately, he lost the fight via unanimous decision, but it was a fight that further bolstered his name in the boxing scene because of his aggressiveness.
It was almost the same aggressiveness that he utilized against Landero, who couldn’t get going in the lopsided fight. Landero, from Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, suffered his fourth defeat. He has 10 wins and two draws.
Although Jerusalem believes he’s ready for a bigger fight, Michael Aldeguer, the CEO of ALA Promotions International and Jerusalem’s promoter, has a different plan.
Last year, Jerusalem lost to fellow Filipino Joey Canoy via unanimous decision in Cebu, which inflicted him his second loss.
Aldeguer wants to give Jerusalem one more fight before they can give him another world title shot.
A rematch with Canoy is one option they are looking at.
“We wanted to see his big test against Landero. And he passed the test,” said Aldeguer. “We would want a rematch against Joey Canoy. We will make that fight happen again. That is going to be our plan before we can say that he is ready for another world title shot.”
In the undercard, Bantayan Island’s Christian Bacolod (10-0-0,7KOs) survived two knockdowns en route to winning a close split decision against Christoval Furog (5-1-0,2KOs).
Their bout served as the fight of the night after both boxers fought a tooth to nail battle which put them down on the canvas after eight rounds.
Bacolod, who was decked twice in the second round, bounced back by knocking down Furog in the following round with the ensuing rounds going into a dogfight.
In the co-main event, Esneth Domingo (11-0-0,6KOs) remained undefeated after scoring a unanimous decision win against Reymark Taday.