ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Boxing devider Taduran dreams of facing Jerusalem

Taduran dreams of facing Jerusalem

Published May 16, 2025 03:36 pm

At A Glance

  • With a goal of becoming the first-ever Filipino undisputed champion, International Boxing Federation (IBF) world mini flyweight titlist Pedro Taduran Jr. is opening the possibilities of facing fellow champion World Boxing Council (WBC) holder Melvin Jerusalem in the future.
Pedro Taduran, left, and coach Jonathan Peñalosa.
Pedro Taduran, left, and coach Jonathan Peñalosa.

With a goal of becoming the first-ever Filipino undisputed champion, International Boxing Federation (IBF) world mini flyweight titlist Pedro Taduran Jr. is opening the possibilities of facing fellow champion World Boxing Council (WBC) holder Melvin Jerusalem in the future.

Set for his first title defense and a rematch against Ginjiro Shigeoka next Saturday, May 24, in Osaka, Japan, the 28-year-old Taduran stressed his interest in facing Jerusalem if the stars align in the coming months.

“Posible pong magkalaban kami, kasi kung sinong manalo laban dun kay [Oscar] Collazo, posible po talaga may mag-undisputed champion samin,” said Taduran during his training session at the Elorde Sports Center in Parañaque City Friday afternoon, May 16.

“Para po may unang Pinoy na makakuha nun, yun po talaga ang goal ko sa future,” he added. 

Jerusalem currently holds the WBC belt, while Puerto Rican Oscar Collazo unified the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) belts after beating Thai Knockout CP Freshmart via a seventh-round TKO.

According to BoxingScene.com reports, Jerusalem, who recently retained his crown after scoring a unanimous win over Shinjiro’s brother Yudai, has echoed his intention of having a second date with Collazo, the pugilist who beat him two years ago.

The thing is, if the clash between Taduran and Collazo went through and Taduran kept his belt, the possibilities of two Filipino champions slugging it out for the historic feat would become more possible.

“Siguro po okay lang yun kasi may mga ibang lahi nga naglalaban, mga Hapon, Mexicano naglalaban din sila isa’t-isa” Taduran continued.

“Para naman yun sa karangalan ng bayan, all love pa rin,” he added.

But before his fanciful ambitions, Taduran, who boasts 17-4-1 win-loss-draw record, stakes his belt against the Shigeoka (11-1-0). The two boxers fought each other in July 2024 where the former prevailed off a ninth-round TKO.

The Libon, Albay native, however, stressed that there’s no rust left in his body and vowed to keep his style but with a different approach this time around as he and his coach Jonathan Peñalosa anticipated the Japanese pug’s eagerness to avenge himself.

“Si Pedro ay Pedro pa rin, dinagdagan ko na lang para maging ready sya. Importante din yung adjustments,” said Peñalosa. “Mahirap na paaabutin pa ng 12 rounds, kaya knockout talaga ang target namin.”

"Knockout talaga ang hanap natin ngayon... kaya gagawin ko lahat ng makakaya ko para makuha 'yon," said Taduran.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.