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Philippines, 02 Nov 2025 |
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THRILLA IN MANILA II RESULTS: JERUSALEM, TAPALES, MARCIAL LEAD WINNERS By Eric Armit PhilBoxing.com Sun, 02 Nov 2025  QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES: MINIMUM: MELVIN JERUSALEM (25-3) W PTS 12 SIYAKHOLWA KUSE (9-3-1). SUPER BANTAM: MARLON TAPALES (41-4) W KO 6 FERNANDO TORO (11-3). MIDDLE: NICO ALI WALSH (11-2-1, 1ND) DREW 8 KITTISAK KLINSON (10-2-1). MIDDLE: EUMIR MARCIAL (7-0) W PTS 10 EDDY COLMENARES (11-3-1). SUPER BANTAM: CARL MARTIN (27-0) W PTS 10 ARAN DIPAEN (21-5). LIGHT FLY: ARVIN MAGRAMO (20-2-1) W PTS 10 BERLAND ROBLES (12-1-1). FLY: ALBERT FRANCISCO (14-1-1) DREW 10 RAMEL MACADO (10-2). MIDDLE: VADIM TUKOV (18-0 SEE TEXT) W PTS 8 SENA AGBEKO (29-5 SEE TEXT) 
Jerusalem vs. Kuse JERUSALEM retains the WBC belt with a unanimous decision over South African KUSE. There was little real action ion the first. Both were off target with their punches and Kuse did what little scoring there was. The challenger was quick and clever but Jerusalem but began to find the target in the second. There was a clash of heads but neither fighter was cut. In the third Kuse tended to burst forward flinging punches and landing his lefts but lacked power and Jerusalem, although missing wildly at times, was scoring with some good combinations and targeting Kuse’s body. The pace was fast and that played more to Kuse’s strength. He was piercing Jerusalem’s guard with right jabs and straight lefts and backing off quickly to avoid Jerusalem’s counters and was piling up the points. Kuse looked to have swept rounds 4, 5 and six although Jerusalem did seem to rattle Kuse with some powerful combinations Kuse landed more quick but lighter shots. Jerusalem, mostly on the back foot, came back over the seventh and eighth getting through with hard rights and putting Kuse under pressure. I had it 76-76 at that point but on the open scoring Jerusalem was in front 77-75 twice and 77-75 for Kuse. The challenger had a good ninth jabbing with speed and accuracy and a higher work rate. Jerusalem landed some hard shots but Kuse shook them off. The fight was in the balance and Jerusalem swung it his way as he landed some left hooks early and shook Kuse with a right that sent Kuse staggering back across the ring. Jerusalem got though with some useful shots at the start of the round and countered the onrushing before ending the round with a long, heavy right. At saw Jerusalem doing most of the scoring, Kuse was down twice but both times he slipped. Jerusalem was wild with his lunging attacks but he was finding the target and Kuse just could not find the space to counter. Just before the bell Jerusalem landed a right that sent Kuse reeling back and it was the champions round. Scores 116-112 twice and 115-113 for Jerusalem. He was making the third defence of the WBC belt. He had more experience of pacing twelve round fights and that proved important as a strong finish won the fight for Jerusalem. Kuse was a revelation. His 9-2-1 record featured only one strong opponent in Filipino 21-2 Samuel Salva but he showed excellent skills, quick hands and feet and showed that he belongs at this level and hopefully will get another title shot at strawweight next year. 
Tapales vs. Toro TAPALES gets a sixth round kayo victory over fellow-southpaw TORO. The little Venezuelan proved a quick and clever opponent but power gave Tapales a big edge. He constantly pressured Toro but found him hard to pin down and Toro had some success when he darted forward throwing punches before slipping out again. Taduran began to wear Toro down and landed with some meaty shots to head and body in the fifth. A very low left from Tapales in the sixth saw Toro given some recovery time. Tapales continued to land some hurtful body punches and after he connected with a couple of body shots Toro dropped to a knee and stayed there as the referee counted ten. A former two-division champion Tapales is rated in the top four by the IBF, WBC and WBO but with Naoya Inoue holding all four belts and having knocked out Tapales in a unification fight in 2023 Taples may just have to hope Inoue moves up a division. Toro performed better than expected but his was a typical Venezuelan record with the nine guys he beat having only seven wins between therm. 
Walsh vs. Klinson WALSH and KINSON fight to a majority draw. It was the Thai who impressed over the early rounds. He stormed forward forcing Walsh to retreat and pinning him against the ropes firing combinations. From the fourth Kinson tired and Walsh took over. He was controlling the action with hard accurate jabbing and shook Klinson a couple of times with uppercuts. By the seventh Klinson weas exhausted and resorting to holding to get through the rounds. Walsh showboated his way through the eighth adding in an attempted Ali Shuffle and celebrating long before the bell. He looked to have just done enough to win but the judges scored it 76-76 twice and 77-75 for Klinson. A nice touch to have Ali Walsh there as Muhammad’s grandson but he is only a moderately talented 6-8 round fighter. Klinson is a former WBA Asian champion and six of the ten fighters he has beaten had never won a fight. 
Marcial vs. Colmenares In the best fight of the night Filipino MARCIAL wins a majority decision over Venezuelan COLMENARES. This was ten rounds of war with Marcial coming off the floor twice to win in a candidate for Fight of the Month and Fight of the Year. It was bombs-away from the first bell. Colmenares had a small edge in height but a much longer reach and his upright stance made him seem even taller. Over the first two rounds he used that edge to make a good start edging the first and second rounds. The fight exploded in the third. Marical landed a couple of good shots That sparked Colmenares into life and he drove forward landing a series of rights as they traded hard punches. There was a slow captious opening to the third as Colmenares just kept pawing with his right and Marcial was short with his punches. Suddenly in a fierce exchange Colmenares connected with a right that had Marcial holding desperately. Colmenares shook himself free and sent Marcial down under a series of head 7punches. Marcial half arose then went down on one knee. He was up at eight and stayed out of trouble to the bell. Colmenares fired home a burst of shots at the start of the fourth but then Marcial unleashed a barrage of blows that had Colmenares hurt and they continued to blaze away for the rest of the round. There was quiet start to the fifth until Marcial launched a ferocious attack banging home punches from both hands and again Colmenares looked in trouble and twice the referee weas close to stepping in but Colmenares fought back. Marcial looked arm weary and a blazing attack from Colmenares made Marcial glad to hear the bell. After another cautious start in the sixth a right from Marcial had Colmenares staggering back across the ring and brought the crowd to their feet. Marcial had a good seventh. Her was getting through with long lefts and he was the one doing the scoring when they did stand and exchange. Colmenares was not quite done but he was just throwing bundles of light punches and looked to be exhausted. The pace slowed in the eighth and ninth with exchanges of jabs interspersed with some brief spells of furious exchanges and Marcial landed a vicious left at the end of the ninth that almost sent Colmenares down. Marcial was taking the rounds with harder and more accurate punching and Colmenares had little left. Marcial looked on his way to winning the tenth after he staggered Colmenares with three lefts but Collamers responded with a three-punch combination that floored Marcial. He beat the count and just circled the ring to see out the remaining seconds. Scores 95-93 twice for Marcial and 94-94. A great fight. Marcial won this by slowing Colmenares with body punch over the first half of the fight and landing the harder and more accurate punches over the second half. He had his first paid fight in 2020 then went back to the amateurs and won a bronze medal at the 2021 Olympics and a silver medal at the Asian Games. He failed to medal in Paris last year and hopefully he will now focus on his professional career. He won the vacant WBC International title in this fight. Colmenares had won all of victories by KO/TKO but his opposition had been modest at best so he proved more dangerous than expected. 
Martin vs. Dipaen “Wonder Boy” MARTIN has to come off the floor to take a unanimous decision over DIPAEN. From the start it was obvious that Martin was a far better technical boxer then the crude Thai and had the faster hands. He switched his attacks well from head to body and put together some impressive combinations. He shook Dipaen with a right to the head in the third but Dipaen fired back and a right sent an off balance Martin down. Martin looked more embarrassed than hurt and proceeded to hand out some serious punishment to Dipaen for the rest of the round. Martin continued to boss the action. The Thai spent most of the fight pinned against the ropes under fire but soaked it up and did not crumble. Martin was credited with a very dubious knockdown in the ninth. Martin attacked hard in the tenth and Dipaen fired back and was never in trouble. Scores 98-90, 98-91 and 97-92. The 26-year-old Filipino is No 2 with the WBO but yet to face a rated opponent. He has plenty of talent but is not yet ready for Inoue or Nakatani. Dipaen’s only inside the distance loss was an eighth round stoppage in a challenge against Inoue for the IBF and WBA titles in 2021. Magramo vs. Robles MAGRAMO retains the WBC International title with a split decision over Filipino southpaw ROBLES . This fight was between the relentless pressure from Magramo against the clever defensive boxing and countering of Robles. Magramo just kept driving fortward pumping out punches. Robles could not stop Magramo coming but he was able to land plenty of accurate counters and used smart footwork to find space. He looked to have built a good lead but tired late and was doing lots of holding and wrestling. He bundled Magramo to the floor twice in the eighth and was warned for holding in the ninth. Magramo kept up the pressure in the tenth but Robles was outboxing him and looked on the way to winning the round when he was correctly deducted a point for holding just ten seconds before the final bell. Scores 96-93 and 95-94 for Magramo and 95-94 for Robles. Without the deduction it would have been a split draw. Francisco vs. Macado The WBC International Silver title remains vacant after southpaws FRANCISCO and MACADO fought to a majority draw, Macado had height and reach over the 5’3” Francisco but Francisco brought unrelenting pressure to the fight. Macado did some nice work at distance but too often chose to stand and trade with Francisco and was warned for holding as he tried to smother Francisco’s work inside. That made for an untidy fight at times. Macado was landing the cleaner, harder shots with Francisco going for quantity without power. Macado was lucky not to be deducted a point as he continued to hold. His cleaner work early probably gave him a lead but over the sixth as Francisco continued to roll forward punching Machado faded badly and only just made it to the bell at the end of the seventh. Francisco had Machado reeling in the eight and for me won the round and the fight. Scores 76-76 twice and 77-75 for Francisco. The WBC International Silver title remains vacant. Tukov vs. Agbeko Russian Tukov scores a unanimous decision over Agbeko and wins the IBA Inter-Continental title. Scores 78-74 twice and 79-73. Tukov is 16-0 in non-IBA fights and now 2-0 in IBA fights. Ghanaian-born Agbeko lost on a second round stoppage against David Morell for the secondary WBA super middle title in 2023. About the Author 
Born in Scotland, Eric Armit started working with Boxing News magazine in the UK in the late 1960’s initially doing records for their Boxing News Annual and compiling World, European and Commonwealth ratings for the magazine. He wrote his first feature article for Boxing News in 1973 and wrote a “World Scene” weekly column for the magazine from the late 1970’s until 2004. Armit wrote a monthly column for Boxing Digest in the USA and contributed pieces to magazines in Mexico, Italy, Australia, Spain, Argentina and other countries. Armit now writes a Weekly Report covering every major fight around the world and a bi-weekly Snips & Snipes column plus occasional general interest articles with these being taken up by boxing sites around the world. He was a member of the inaugural WBC Ratings Committee and a technical advisor to the EBU Ratings Committee and was consulted by John McCain’s research team when they were drafting the Ali Act. He is a Director and former Chairman of the Commonwealth Boxing Council. Armit has been nominated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame the past two years (2019 and 2020) to which he said, “Being on the list is an unbelievably huge honour.” Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eric Armit.  |
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