Melvin Jerusalem will defend his WBC minimumweight title for the second time against Yudai Shigeoka on March 30 at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan.
Jerusalem, 30, dropped Shigeoka twice on the way to a split-decision victory to win the title in March 2024. The Filipino followed up doing so with a dominant performance to earn a unanimous decision over the unbeaten Mexican Luis Castillo in September.
He is no stranger to recording an upset on Japanese soil, having previously defeated Masataka Taniguchi via second-round stoppage in March 2023 to win the WBO version of the minimumweight title. He later lost the WBO belt in his first defense, to the WBA and WBO champion Oscar Collazo.
Japan’s Shigeoka, 27, won the WBC title in just his eighth professional fight, when earning a clear decision over Panya Pradabsri in October 2023. Pradabsri, of Thailand, has since won the WBC light-flyweight title.
A victory for either could set up a unification bout with either Pedro Taduran or Collazo.
Incidentally, the WBC have ordered a rematch between Pradabsri and Carlos Canizales, after the Venezuelan lost a highly-contentious decision to him in Bangkok in December.
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