Melvin Jerusalem Defeats Siyakholwa Kuse By Unanimous Decision

Melvin Jerusalem retained his WBC strawweight (minimumweight) title with a unanimous decision over South Africa’s Siyakholwa Kuse at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, a homecoming defence staged as part of the “Thrilla in Manila” 50th-anniversary tribute. The judges scored it 116–112 twice and 115–113 for Jerusalem after 12 rugged rounds that swung on accuracy and late-round composure rather than sheer volume. Open scoring after eight rounds showed just how tight it was, Jerusalem ahead on two cards, Kuse up on the other, before the champion closed stronger to bank the final frames. Official punch stats weren’t released, but the pattern was clear enough: Kuse out-threw, Jerusalem out-landed, with the Filipino’s cleaner right hands and tidier counters winning the debate when it mattered. The result moves Jerusalem to 25-3 (12 KOs), while Kuse falls to 9-3-1 (4 KOs).

From the first bell, Kuse set about making the ring feel small. Tall for the weight and intent on hustle, he stepped in behind a long jab and uncorked straight one-twos, looking to force the champion backwards and pick up points on work rate. The early exchanges were choppy, there were pauses for warnings and footing issues, and a moment in round three that looked like a knockdown from a Jerusalem counter left was ruled a slip. This incident typified the challenger’s live-wire start and the fine margins the referee had to navigate. Kuse’s best moments came in the fourth and sixth, where his forward march and committed body work drew him level on several scorecards. Still, Jerusalem’s shots had the more visible effect; the champion’s straights and compact hooks disrupted Kuse mid-combination and quietly kept him in the argument through close, swing rounds.

The tactical split was stark. Kuse pressed, changed rhythm and tried to swarm in bursts, two and three quick flurries to one of the champions, then smothered to halt counters. Jerusalem, shorter and more compact, treated the fight like a marksmanship test. He flicked a jab that was more rangefinder than ramrod and looked to feed right hands through the middle as Kuse crossed his feet or squared up. When they traded to the body in the ninth, Kuse again found success with the right hand downstairs, but he took a warning for punching after the break; those little discipline lapses bled momentum just as the fight entered its deciding stretch. With eight-round open scoring indicating a split vantage, Jerusalem up 77–75 on two cards, Kuse 77–75 on the other, the champion fought the championship rounds like a man who’d seen the math. He drove Kuse back with a crisp right late in the tenth and, in the twelfth, wobbled him with a straight right in the final 20 seconds before they both emptied the tank to the bell; the last view the judges got was the champion finishing stronger.

There was plenty around the result to underline its significance. The show, promoted by Manny Pacquiao Promotions in conjunction with the IBA and marketed as a commemorative sequel to Ali–Frazier III, drew a lively crowd and a broadcast audience that included DAZN carriage in the U.S. and a full replay on IBA’s YouTube channel. Earlier in the night, Olympic middleweight gold medallist Eumir Marcial survived two knockdowns to edge Eddy Colmenares in a breathless ten-rounder, Carl Jammes Martin traded knockdowns with Aran Dipaen before running away with it on the cards, and Nico Ali Walsh fought to an eight-round draw with Thailand’s Kittisak Klinson. Those fights, noisy and dramatic, primed the building. By the time Jerusalem made his ring walk, the nostalgia branding had given way to a present-tense tension; this wasn’t a ceremony, it was peril. The scores confirm it. At 116–112, 116–112 and 115–113, this was a defence won on clarity of shots and late-round discipline more than dominance.

For Jerusalem, this marks a third successful defence since winning the WBC belt, and a clean sweep of a physically strong, in-form challenger who arrived with a six-fight winning run and genuine momentum after beating Samuel Salva and lifting the WBC Silver strap. The Filipino has fashioned an identity at 105 pounds as a compact, heavy-handed technician who trusts his straight right under pressure and can fight in pockets when pushed, he’ll want a unification in 2026, an all-Filipino meeting with IBF titleholder Pedro Taduran has already been floated following Taduran’s recent points win, and the timing, geography and storyline make sense for the division. As for Kuse, a 22-year-old with size, engine and bravery at the weight, he leaves Manila with proof that he belongs at the world level. The tape shows where the upgrades need to come: steadier feet in mid-ring to stop overcommitting on entries, a more reliable guard after the first volley, and fewer lapses that give a patient champion countering windows. He can take encouragement from the open scoring snapshot after eight, he’d convinced at least one judge he was winning a world title in a hostile cauldron, and from how often he forced the champion to answer. On another night, with another set of judges, a little more accuracy makes that pressure tell.

The numbers we can verify tell the story well enough in the absence of CompuBox, official scores tight but unanimous, open scoring split after eight, and a final image of a champion who walked his man onto the right hand when the fight was there to be claimed. If it lacked the clinical separation of a highlight-reel finish, it carried its own quality, clean counterpunching under duress and superior economy allied to a measured late surge. Jerusalem leaves with his belt and a place in the queue for something bigger next year, Kuse leaves with credibility, experience, and a blueprint of adjustments that could turn effort into edge the next time a central belt is on the line. Either way, the strawweight division, often overlooked, served up a main event that rewarded the purist’s eye and, for a night, did justice to the history the promotion invoked.