Jerusalem Eyes Repeat, Yudai Shigeoka Seeks Redemption in WBC 105 Lbs Title Rematch
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 14 Feb 2025
Filipino titleholder Melvin Jerusalem is eyeing a repeat while Japanese ex titlist Yudai Shigeoka is seeking redemption in their scheduled title rematch for the WBC minimumweight championship.
Jerusalem and Yudai will go at it again on March 30, 2025 at the Aichi Sky Expo in Takoname, Japan wrapping up first quarter of world title boxing in Japan.
Jerusalem wrested the WBC crown from Shigeoka via 12 round split decision spiked by two knockdowns over the Japanese in Tokyo in March last year.
Yudai and his younger brother Ginjiro Shigeoka were two of Japan's highly profiled boxers who won the world minimumweight titles simultaneously in 2023 after raking up series of impressive victories over noted fighters. They were expected to have lengthy title reigns in the tradition of renowned old champions as Yoko Gushiken.
However Yudai lost his WBC title to Jerusalem then Ginjiro ceded his IBF belt in a more gory way being stopped by another Filipino ex titlist Pedro Taduran in July of last year.
Yudai is seeking to be the first of the fighting brothers to gain redemption by regaining the WBC crown from Jerusalem. He indicated this resolve by holding his initial training in the Philippines and sparring against some of the tough Filipino fighters in and around the weight class.
Jerusalem has initially defended the WBC title by unanimous decision over Mexican mandatory challenger Luis Castillo on Manny Pacquiao's Blow by Blow televised boxing show last September. He has also expressed determination to keep the belt and stay champion for longer time after losing his WBO crown on his first defense abroad against Oscar Collazo.
The sensational Puerto Rican now holds both the WBO and WBA belts having defrocked long reigning Thai titlist Panya Pradabsri also last year in a high profile fight in Saudi Arabia.
According to sources, there is a plan too to pit Ginjiro against Taduran in a title rematch next quarter in Japan. But that could change if Collazo moves up to light flyweight in pursuit of his previous victim Pradabsri who has won the WBC title vacated by Kenshiro Teraji. That would present Ginjiro another opportunity to become world champion again by vying for any of the world crowns to be left by Collazo.
The Jerusalem-Yudai rematch will cap a busy February-March fight schedule in Japan that will also feature Junto Nakatani's defense against Antonio Cuellar and two all Japanese world title bouts including a WBC-WBA unification between Teraji and Seigo Yuri Akui and Daigo Higa's renewed challenge for the WBA bantamweight title now held by Seiya Tsusumi.
Abangan ang mga aksyon...
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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