Melvin Jerusalem yielded his World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight title after absorbing a unanimous decision defeat against Siyakholwa Kuse at the Emperors Palace in South Africa on Sunday morning (Manila time).

Jerusalem found himself fighting an uphill battle early after suffering a nasty cut from an accidental clash of heads in the third round, an injury that Kuse expertly exploited throughout the contest.

The South African challenger then repeatedly utilized his reach advantage with sharp jabs to target the wound and keep the Filipino champion at bay.

Jerusalem, however, refused to go down quietly.

The pride of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon tried to swing the momentum in his favor in the later rounds and even scored a knockdown in the 11th with a perfectly timed counter right hand. 

But the late surge proved to be futile in the end as all three judges scored the fight in favor of Kuse, 116-111, 116-112 and 115-112.

It was a sweet redemption for Kuse, who fell short in his first attempt at the title when he lost to Jerusalem at the Araneta Coliseum in October last year. 

The victory improved the South African’s record to 10-2-1 while capturing the biggest win of his career. Jerusalem, meanwhile, dropped to 25-4 and lost one of only two world titles currently held by Filipino fighters entering the bout.

The fight itself saw a cautious opening half with neither boxer fully taking control through the first six rounds. But once Jerusalem began pressing the action in the second half, Kuse capitalized with brilliant counter punching

Kuse also did an excellent job aggravating the champion’s cut, repeatedly snapping jabs onto the damaged area to keep blood flowing and hamper Jerusalem’s vision.