Jerusalem shuts out Castillo to retain WBC title

MANILA, Philippines – Melvin Jerusalem successfully defended the World Boxing Council minimumweight championship after a masterful unanimous decision win over Mexico's Luis Castillo at the Mandaluyong City College Gymnasium Sunday night.

In front of a hometown crowd in the main event of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s “Blow-By-Blow” show, Jerusalem dealt Castillo's first loss in his professional career.

All three judges scored the contest in favor of the Filipino pug after 12 rounds. Two judges had it 120-107, while one scored it 118-109.

It was a dominant win for the 30-year-old slugger, who knocked down his Mexican foe in the first round with a straight right.

While he was unable to repeat the knockdown, the Filipino kept on coming with clean shots throughout the match.

An evidently more desperate Castillo landed some powerful shots in the latter rounds, but Jerusalem just landed more to the delight of the packed partisan crowd.

It is the first successful title defense for the Bukidnon-born boxer, who failed to defend the World Boxing Organization version of the title, losing to Oscar Collazo last year.

Jerusalem now holds a record of 23 wins and three losses (with 12 knockouts). Castillo, for his part, dropped to 22 wins, one loss and a draw.