Melvin Jerusalem defends strawweight belt against Luis Castillo on September 22 in Philippines

Melvin Jerusalem has made his name in world title fights abroad. Now he finally gets one at home.

The Filipino road warrior will make the first defense of WBC strawweight title on September 22 when he faces mandatory challenger Luis Castillo at Mandaluyong City College Gymnasium in Metro Manila.

The 30-year-old Jerusalem (22-3, 12 knockouts) of Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon province, Philippines won the title in March, defeating Yudai Shigoeka by split decision in Japan, and is now in his second reign as champion. He won the WBO 105-pound title in January of 2023, defeating Masataka Taniguchi by second round stoppage, before losing it just four months later by seventh round stoppage to Oscar Collazo.

Now, with hometown advantage for a change, Jerusalem is hoping to avoid the first defense jinx which befell him during his first reign.

“I am very happy that I will defend my WBC belt right here in my hometown. I will do my best to defend the belt and I will give a good fight in the ring,” said Jerusalem, who is rated no. 3 by The Ring at 105 pounds while his opponent is rated no. 10.

“Castillo is a tough unbeaten Mexican. He is a great fighter and you know Mexicans always come and fight so it will be a fun fight,” said Jim Claude Manangquil, whose Sanman Boxing promotes Jerusalem.

“But Jerusalem’s skills and right hand will be too much for him.”

Castillo (21-0-1, 13 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico will be fighting outside of his home country for the first time in his ten year career. The 27-year-old, a southpaw like four of Jerusalem’s last five opponents, has fought few notable opponents so far, with the most noteworthy being former title challenger Abraham Rodriguez, whom Castillo stopped in six rounds in 2022. Castillo has not been particularly active in recent years, having not fought since his ten round unanimous decision win last November against Miguel Angel Herrera, which was his first fight since the Rodriguez fight 15 months earlier.

“We have already a game plan for my opponent. He is a good and tall boxer, but that’s no problem because I know how to adjust in the fight,” said Jerusalem, who is trained by former bantamweight contender Michael Domingo in Cebu province and is managed by Nobuyuki and Marivic Matsuura.

“We are preparing for this fight for how many months and I will give all my best to this fight to defend my WBC belt.”

Manangquil credits Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions for helping bring the fight to the Philippines. He says Gibbons approached Manny Pacquiao about broadcasting the fight on his weekly boxing program, Manny Pacquiao Presents: Blow by Blow. The show is also being sponsored by the Mandaluyong City government Mayor Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr., who is making entrance for the show free to the public, as well as oil company Petron.

“Manny said he will not let Melvin go on the road for his first defense. We thank Manny Pacquiao for all of this,” said Manangquil.

World title fights in the Philippines are exceedingly rare as the television and live gate market are usually far more lucrative. The last world title fight to take place in the Philippines was the IBF strawweight title fight between Pedro Taduran and Rene Mark Cuarto in February 2022, though there were no spectators in attendance due to COVID-19 protocols. Prior to that, the last title fight in the Philippines was the vacant IBF junior flyweight title fight between Randy Petalcorin and Felix Alvarado in 2018.

The undercard is scheduled to feature former IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas (34-4-2, 23 KOs) against Sukpraserd Ponpitak (30-19, 20 KOs) of Thailand in a ten round bout, which will be his first appearance since losing his challenge of WBA bantamweight titleholder Takuma Inoue by ninth round knockout in February.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].