Melvin Jerusalem during his sparring with Omega Boxing Gym’s Ramil Roda. Watching closely is world title challenger Christian Araneta. | Photo from Omega Boxing Gym
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) world minimumweight champion Melvin “Gringo” Jerusalem has successfully completed his sparring rounds as he prepares for his first world title defense on September 21 in Mandaluyong City, Manila.
Jerusalem’s trainer, Michael Domingo, confirmed this in an interview with CDN Digital.
The Cebu-based world champion, one of the two active Filipino world boxing champions, wrapped up his final sparring session at the Omega Boxing Gym on Tuesday, September 10.
“We’re close to wrapping up our training camp. Last Tuesday, we finished the sparring sessions at Omega,” Domingo said.
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“From here on, it’s light training. We’re easing off the more intense workouts, as it’s been a long camp. We started preparing even before the title defense was scheduled, so now it’s about maintaining his conditioning and monitoring his weight.”
Currently, Jerusalem is focusing on managing his weight, which is around five pounds over the minimumweight limit. He will face the undefeated Mexican challenger Luis “Flechita” Castillo in the main event of Manny Pacquiao’s “Blow-by-Blow” fight card.
Domingo expressed his gratitude to the Omega Boxing Gym for hosting the sparring sessions and to the PMI Bohol Boxing Stable for sending boxers to assist Jerusalem in his preparations.
“Melvin has been thoroughly prepared; we’ve worked hard to ensure he’s in top condition. We’re thankful to PMI, especially Sir Podot [Floriezyl], for sending his fighters for sparring, and to Omega for accommodating us,” Domingo added.
“We’ve logged over a hundred rounds of sparring. Even before the fight was officially scheduled, we had already begun sparring, gradually increasing the intensity as the date approached.”
The 30-year-old Jerusalem, hailing from Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, holds an impressive record of 22 wins (12 by knockout) and three losses.
His opponent, Castillo, enters the fight with a perfect 21-0 record, 13 of those wins coming by knockout, along with one draw.