Filipino WBO minimumweight world champion Melvin 'Gringo' Jerusalem landed at the Tom Bradley International Airport in Los Angeles via Philippine Airlines Tuesday night (Wednesday in Manila) ahead of his first world title defense against Puerto Rican challenger Oscar Collazo on May 27 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
Jerusalem was accompanied by his trainer Michael Domingo and Sanman/Zip stablemate Kevin Jake Cataraja. He was met at LAX by boxing supporters Christopher Arias, Albert Casas and Philboxing photographer Jhay Otamias.
Jerusalem (20-2-0, 12KOs) will be fighting for the first time in the US and will have experience advantage over Collazo (6-0-0, 4KOs) who turned pro only in 2020. Collazo however has a stellar amateur experience and won the gold medal in the 2019 Pan American Games.
Collazo has been pushed aggressively by his promoters Miguel Cotto Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions believing that the pint-sized Puerto Rican will be a future star. Former Filipino world champion Vic Salurdar was one of his victims in his young pro career. He defeated Mexican contender Yudel Reyes, then 15-1, in his last fight to get a shot at Jerusalem.
Jerusalem won the WBO belt by knocking out Masataka Taniguchi in the second round on Jan. 6, 2023 in Osaka, Japan. He previously challenged then WBC champion Wanheng Meenayothin of Thailand in 2017 and lost by a very close decision.
L-R: Kevin Jake Cataraja, Jerusalem, Christopher Arias, Albert Casas and Michael Domingo at LAX on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 upon Team Jerusalem's arrival from Manila. Photo by Jhay Otamias.
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