WBO orders mandatory title fight between Melvin Jerusalem and Oscar Collazo

Newly-crowned WBO world minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem may soon find himself in the ring again after the World Boxing Organization ordered a mandatory title defense against Oscar Collazo for his next bout.

Jerusalem, 20-2 with 12 knockouts as a pro, is the lone boxing world title holder in the Philippines today having won the strap with a highlight-reel knockout win over Masataka Taniguchi earlier this month in Japan.

Collazo, meanwhile, is 6-0 with 4 knockouts as a fighter and is known to some for defeating Filipino ex-world champion Vic Saludar.

“Please be advised that the WBO World Championship Committee is hereby ordering the commencement of negotiations for the subject matter bout,” the WBO announced.

“The parties herein have 15 days upon issuance of this letter to negotiate and reach an agreement accordingly.”

Should negotiations fail, a purse bid will be ordered by the major sanctioning body where a minimum bid of $80,000 or roughly 4.3 million pesos in fight purse will be split between the two fighters.

—JM Siasat/JMB, GMA Integrated News