Title Fights From Around the World: Masamichi Yabuki and Melvin Jerusalem Triumph

Today, boxing world title fights take place around the globe and are more accessible to watch than ever before. Sometimes, championship bouts do not receive as much attention and go underreported. Big Fight Weekend commits to writing about boxing news, previews and recaps. As such, the site now has a recurring segment on championship bouts – from around the world from the past week.

The focus of these pieces will be on clashes ranging from atomweight to heavyweight that had the WBA, WBC, IBF, and/or WBO titles on the line. This week’s edition of “Title Fights From Around the World” consists of two recaps. In Japan, a new flyweight champion was crowned. Also in Japan, a reigning minimumweight champion successfully retained his title.

Title Fights From Around the World: Masamichi Yabuki and Melvin Jerusalem Triumph

Masamichi Yabuki vs. Ángel Ayala Fight Recap

Masamichi Yabuki (18-4, 17 KOs) is the latest person to become a flyweight world champion following his twelfth-round technical knockout of Ángel Ayala (18-1, 8 KOs).

The official time of stoppage for this bout was 1:54. With the victory, Yabuki now holds the IBF flyweight world title. He is also the IBF light flyweight champion. Ayala was the reigning flyweight champion going into this clash, having won the title in August. He was making his first ever title defence.

Ayala-Yabuki headlined a March 29 Kameda Promotions card at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan. Boxing fans in the country could catch the action live on Abema. In Latin America, it was broadcast on ESPN KnockOut. For the rest of the world, the fight could be watched on Abema by using a VPN.

Read More – Title Fights From Around the World: Masamichi Yabuki Champion, Alycia Baumgardner Returns

Ayala was knocked down late in round one after being hit with a left hook. With over 40 seconds to go in the second, he was knocked down again after his gloves touched the canvas following a straight right hand from Yabuki. In round three, both men were cut after an accidental clash of heads. Ayala was cut above his right eyebrow while Yabuki’s was below the right eye.

Despite the early knockdowns, Ayala did what he could to make it to the final bell. However, he was consistently getting hit with brutal blows to the head and body in addition to having blood pour from his cut. In round 12, Ayala was knocked down a third time from a straight right hand. He got up, but referee Katsuhiko Nakamura put an end to proceedings after the Mexican got hit with a few power shots.

Melvin Jerusalem vs. Yudai Shigeoka 2 Fight Recap

Melvin Jerusalem (24-3, 12 KOs) had a more dominant showing in his rematch against Yudai Shigeoka (9-2, 5 KOs), this time winning via unanimous decision.

Scores for their fight were 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. With the victory, Jerusalem retains his WBC minimumweight world title. He won the belt in March last year in his first fight against Shigeoka. This was his second defence of the worldtitle.

Jerusalem-Shigeoka 2 headlined a March 30 Kameda Promotions card at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan. Boxing fans in the country could catch the action live on Abema. Those outside of Japan could watch on Abema by using a VPN.

Read More – Title Fights From Around the World: Wins for Melvin Jerusalem and Nina Meinke

Over 12 rounds, Jerusalem was simply the busier fighter of the two. He outworked Shigeoka by consistently landing flurries. Despite the Japanese fighter’s best efforts, he was unable to trouble the Filipino much. As the fight entered the championship rounds, it was clear that Shigeoka needed a knockout in order to win. He was unable to do so, allowing Jerusalem to win comfortably via unanimous decision.