Strawweight world champion Melvin Jerusalem did just enough to keep his belt in the main bout of the Thrilla In Manila anniversary event.
Melvin Jerusalem (25-3, 12 KOs) saved the best for last as he rallied in the late rounds to win the judges favor over Siyakholwa Kuse (9-3-1, 4 KOs) to retain his WBC strawweight crown in the main bout of the Thrilla in Manila anniversary event at the iconic Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night.
Jerusalem did just enough in the latter rounds of the fight even as Kuse tried to rally past the reigning champion with ill-advised aggressiveness that also left him open defensively against Jerusalem.
His tenacity proved pivotal in the barnburner with all three judges seeing the fight slightly in his favor, even though Kuse did become the busier boxer in some crucial parts of the fight —
including in the seventh and eight rounds when Jerusalem was eating more shots than he’s throwing.
But a well-placed straight with 15 seconds from the bell in the 12th stanza effectively swung the scores in Jerusalem’s favor as Kuse was wobbled to end up with a unanimous decision win (116-112, 116-112, 115-113).
Marcial still undefeated
Meanwhile, Eumir Marcial (7-0, 4 KOs) salvaged his undefeated record, scoring a majority decision over Eddy Colmenares (11-3-1) for the vacant WBC International 160-lb title.
Marcial was knocked down twice — in the third and tenth rounds — but did just enough in the bigger picture to hold on for the victory. The judges scored the fight 95-93 twice and 94-94 in favor of Marcial to gift him the victory.
In the earlier bout, Manny Pacquiao’s son Eman Bacosa defeated compatriot Nico Salado via unanimous decision to kick off the hostilities at the Big Dome.
See the full results of the bouts below:
- Melvin Jerusalem def. Siyakholwa UD
- Eumir Marcial def. Eddy Colmenares MD
- Carl Jammes Martin def. Aran Dipaen UD
- Chris Thompson def. Georgiy Yunovidov UD
- Nico Ali Walsh draw vs Kittisak Klinson MD
- Vadim Tukov def. Sena Agbeko UD
- Marlon Tapales def. Fernando Toro KO
- Arvin Magramo def. Berland Robles SD
- Ronerick Ballesteros def. Ramel Macado Jr. TKO
- Albert Francisco draw vs Ramel Macado Jr. SD
- Eman Bacosa def. Nico Salado UD
(With reports from Maureen Muarip, Mei-lin Lozada/One Sports Digital)
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.