Melvin “El Gringo” Jerusalem returns to the boxing ring on Feb. 26
From left: Melvin Jerusalem, Kevin Jake Cataraja, Esneth Domingo, and Kenny Demecillo. | Facebook Photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Former world title challenger and top ranked minimumweight contender Melvin “El Gringo” Jerusalem will return to the ring on February 26 for the Sanman Bubble VIII boxing series in General Santos City.
The 27-year old Jerusalem is the current No. 1 contender in the World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) minimumweight division and No. 2 in the World Boxing Council (WBC). He is also the No. 3 in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 5 in the World Boxing Association (WBA).
The pride of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon will face Ramel Antaran in an eight-rounder tune-up bout in the 105-pound division. Joining him in the fight card are Kevin Jake Cataraja, Esneth Domingo, and Kenny Demecillo.
Jerusalem fought for the world title in 2017 against Wenhang Menayothin for the WBC world minimumweight title in Thailand but he lost via unanimous decision.
He sports a record of 17 wins with 10 knockouts and two defeats while Antaran of Sarangani Province has 4-15-2 (win-loss-draw) slate.
Jerusalem is on a six-fight winning streak since 2017 and won the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) minimumweight title in the process. Antaran’s most recent bout against Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga came up short when he lost via unanimous decision last year.
On the other hand, Cataraja, the No. 9 super flyweight contender in the WBO will face Romshane Sarguilla in the same fight card.
The 26-year old Cataraja, unbeaten at 13 wins with 11 knockouts will square off against Sarguilla (7-6-2, 4KOs) in the fight card.
Cataraja is ranked No. 9 in WBO’s super flyweight division and also the former WBO Youth superflyweight champion. He impressively knocked out his four previous opponents.
Meanwhile, Domingo (15-1,8KOs) will go up against former WBO Oriental light flyweight champion Jesse Espinas (20-4, 11KOs) in the main event.
The 23-year old Domingo is on a four-fight winning streak while Espinas needs to shake off ring rust. Espinas last fought in 2019 and beat former world title challenger Denver Cuello via unanimous decision. Before that, Espinas suffered back-to-back losses.
Also featured is Kenny Demecillo (14-5-2, 8KOs) who hasn’t fought since 2019.
Like Espinas, Demecillo , also needs to overcome ring rust due to inactivity. Demecillo’s last bout was in March 2019 against former world title challenger Michael Dasmariñas for the IBF bantamweight title eliminator. He lost via unanimous decision.
On February 26, Demecillo returns to the ring to face Eric Pulgo (5-2-1, 3KOs) in the undercard. / dcb
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
