Three venues eyed for Jerusalem title defense

Melvin Jerusalem (left) and Oscar Collazo (right). | Facebook photos

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Golden Boy/Cotto Promotions is eyeing three venues for the first title defense of the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) world minimumweight champion, Melvin “Gringo” Jerusalem on May 27, 2023.

Jerusalem of Cebu-based ZIP Sanman Boxing Team will defend his title either in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in Dallas, Texas, or Los Angeles, California after the Golden Boy/Cotto Promotions won the purse bid over Kameda Promotions.

This was recently announced by the World Boxing Organization (WBO). 

The Golden Boy/Cotto Promotions, a partnership between Oscar Dela Hoya and Miguel Cotto had the highest bid of 152,000 USD, while Kameda Promotions of Japan only had 101,000 USD bid. 

Jerusalem is guaranteed to earn up to $114,000, which is 75-percent of the total purse, while Collazo earns $38,000. 

With this latest development, Jerusalem’s promoters and managers from ZIP Sanman plans to hold the latter’s first title defense in Japan won’t be materialized. 

Nonetheless, it will be Jerusalem’s perfect opportunity to showcase himself in the bigger boxing market for the first time in his career. 

The 28-year-old Jerusalem of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon wrested the WBO world minimumweight title via a sensational second-round knockout win over  Masataka Taniguchi last January 6, 2023 in Osaka, Japan. 

Jerusalem has a record of 20 wins (12KOs)  with two defeats.

He is more experienced than the 26-year-old Collazo, who is undefeated in six fights with four knockouts wins. 

However, Collazo is a notable bemedalled amateur boxer who is a 2019 gold medalist in the Pan American Games. 

He became the mandatory challenger for Jerusalem’s WBO world title after scoring a fifth-round knockout against Yudel Reyes earlier this year. 

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Jerusalem knocks out Taniguchi in second round of WBO title duel in Japan