Yudai Shigeoka went for it in desperation as he pressed the fight to Melvin Jerusalem. He was hoping to land that one lucky punch that could have helped him escape yet another defeat.

He was greeted with sharp right straights instead.

A precise and methodical Melvin Jerusalem punished Yudai Shigeoka in their rematch to retain the World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight crown at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan on Sunday, March 30.

Unlike in their first match where Jerusalem floored Shigeoka twice on his way to a split decision victory, the Filipino champion did not record a knockdown this time though he was more dominant and assertive all throughout the match.

And that reflected in the judges' scorecard which had the defending champion winning 118-110 (Joseph Gwilt), 116-112 (Thawut Pheumsamsan), and 119-109 (Chris Tellez).

Jerusalem, who first won the belt last year when he handed Shigeoka his first loss, improved to a 24-3 record with 12 knockouts.

Shigeoka, on the other hand, fell to a 9-2 record.

The pride of Bukidnon, despite being the defending champion, came in as an underdog to the fight though he quickly proved otherwise the moment he stepped into the ring.

Jerusalem was very calculated in the opening rounds although he was on target in his combinations which mostly landed on the face of the Japanese former champion

Shigeoka tried to become the aggressor in the middle frames, throwing haymakers which only either missed or landed on Jerusalem’s guard. 

The crowd came alive in the seventh round when Shigeoka momentarily dropped to the canvas before the referee ruled it as a slip. 

The punishment, however, was beginning to be visible to the face of the Shigeoka with Jerusalem’s vicious right straights leaving him with a bloody nose.