Jerusalem repeats versus Shigeoka

MANILA, Philippines — Different time, similar result.

Filipino boxing champion Melvin Jerusalem successfully defended the World Boxing Council minimumweight title against Yudai Shigeoka, scoring a unanimous decision in their rematch yesterday at the Aichi Sky Expo in Nagoya, Japan.

Jerusalem dethroned Shigeoka last year for the same belt also in Japan, but via close split decision despite scoring two knockdowns.

But this time around, “El Gringo” was more dominant, with all three judges scoring it in his favor, 118-110, 119-109 and 116-112, although he wasn’t able to floor the Japanese.

And like their first match, the Filipino was able to take his opponent apart piece by piece right from the get-go with precision.

Jerusalem kept on coming with volume punches, connecting on combinations as he was just too slippery for the hometown bet.

He kept the pressure on until the final round, not slowing down as Shigeoka struggled to connect with his punches.

With the win, Jerusalem is now holding a 23-4 win-loss record (with 12 knockouts), while Shigeoka dropped to 9-2 (5 KOs). The Japanese slugger’s two losses both came against Jerusalem.