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| Melvin Jerusalem successfully defended his WBC minimumweight title at home. Ivan Saldajeno |
MANDALUYONG—Melvin Jerusalem made sure on Sunday night that there will be no let-up in the first defense of his WBC minimumweight title after dominating Mexico's Luis Castillo at the Mandaluyong City College of Science and Technology Gym.
Unlike in his title clincher where he won by a razor-slim split decision, Jerusalem put on a clinic against his erstwhile undefeated opponent en route to a unanimous decision win.
Not really known for his finishes, Jerusalem got a sold-out crowd going by staggering Castillo with a right hook for the only knockdown of the contest right in the very first round.
There were even more glimpses of Jerusalem looking to knock Castillo out by unleashing a flurry of punches late into the first three rounds only that the opponent was only saved by the bell.
"Matibay siya," Jerusalem said.
However, when Castillo began connecting on power shots of his own, especially in Rounds 4 and 10, Jerusalem banked on his technical boxing prowess to seal the domination.
One judge had it 118-109, but the other two scored a perfect 120 for Jerusalem, who now has 23 wins against three losses.
Castillo, fighting in his first-ever international bout, lost for the first time after 21 wins and one draw to open his pro career.
Meanwhile, Jerwin Ancajas' homecoming bout ended in anti-climactic fashion as Thailand's Sukpraserd Pontipak was disqualified.
The match was marred by several takedowns--six in total--by Pontipak while trying to get out of Ancajas' flinches.
When Pontipak took Ancajas down again for the last time at the 2:34 mark of the fifth round, the referee had seen enough and slapped Pontipak with the disqualification.
Ancajas moved up to 35-4-2, while Pontipak fell to 30-20.
In another Philippines versus others bout, Japan's Kiyoto Narukami stayed perfect with a dominating unanimous decision win against Jaybie Ignacio in a six-rounder wherein all threes scored the bout 60-54 for Narukami.
Narukami is now at 4-0, while Ignacio fell to 3-3.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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