Melvin Jerusalem Scores One Punch KO of Taniguchi Wins WBO World Minimum Title

By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent

Osaka, Japan (January 7th, 2022)–  In boxing, it has often been said the hardest way of all to win a world title is to do it in enemy territory on the road. That being said, the only way to do it is to score a clear, clean and convincing knockout of the champion in front of a hometown crowd.

 On Friday evening, January 6, 2023, in the co-main event of a 10 bout card at EIDON Arena, Osaka, Japan, Melvin Jerusalem won his first world title, the World Boxing Organization World Minimumweight title, with a dramatic one punch second round knockout of Masataka Taniguchi.

 Jerusalem, 20-2 with 12 knockouts, General Santos City, a former WBC world title challenger in 2017, and the current Oriental and Pacific Boxing Regional Minimumweight champion in the Asian corridor, boxed an even first round, in which he threw some wild ineffective haymakers. One minute and four seconds into the second round, Jerusalem nailed the southpaw Taniguchi, now 16-4 with 11 knockouts, Tokyo, Japan, with a picture perfect well-timed straight right hand lead power shot which sent him to the canvas on his back. Taniguchi got up much too soon, in obvious trouble without his balance or senses, at the bout was stopped by referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. at 1:04 of the second round.

 Also on the card, Daniel ‘Cejitas’ Valladares, 26-3-1 with 15 knockouts, Monterrey, Mexico, made his first successful defense of the International Boxing Federation World Minimumweight title with a bizarre third round No Contest-No Decision with undefeated challenger Ginjiro Shigeoka, 8-0 with six knockouts, Tokyo, Japan, due to accidental butting by Shigeoka. All three judges had scored the bout 19-19 at the time the bout was stopped at 2:48 of the third round. This has to be the first time a championship boxing match, or boxing match of any kind, has ended in a dual No Contest-No Decision in boxing history, rather than one or the other. Whether the Japanese rules went to the scorecards, or the championship bout is less than four rounds rule applies, the fighters got stuck with a draw.

 In a World Boxing Organization regional title bout, southpaw super featherweight prospect Masanori Rikiski, 13-1 with eight knockouts, Nagoya, Japan, the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Super featherweight regional champion, rose to seventh in the world on the BoxRec world super featherweight rankings, and first on the BoxRec in the Japanese super featherweight rankings, with a fifth round knockout of Yoshimitsu Kimura, 14-3-1 with nine knockouts, Tokyo, Japan, to win the World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title. On the undercard, 26-9-2 Japanese featherweight Mugicha Nakagawa, and 38-6-4 Japanese super lightweight and former world title challenger Hiroshige Osawa both scored comeback wins.








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