Melvin Jerusalem vs Siyakholwa Kuse May 16th, 2026
WBC Minimumweight (strawweight) Boss Melvin Jerusalem of the Philippines meets Siyakholwa Kuse of South Africa this Saturday, May 16th in an instant rematch. The 12-rounder takes place in South Africa and comes seven months after Jerusalem beat Kuse via a unanimous decision in the Philippines. Jerusalem won the belt via an upset split decision over Yudai Shigeoka in a very close fight in Japan in March, 2024 and dropped him in the third and sixth rounds along the way. Jerusalem then defended the belt via a wide unanimous decision over Luis Castillo and beat Shigeoka by unanimous decision in their rematch. Before meeting Jerusalem, Kuse fought last May when he beat Samuel Salva via a 10-round unanimous decision.
Jerusalem vs Kuse Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Siyakholwa Kuse +109
- Melvin Jerusalem -140
My Pick
Jerusalem is 32 years old and makes the ring walk with a mark of 25-3 with 12 Ko’s and has fought 188 rounds since turning pro in 2014 following his amateur career. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the Philippine National Games in 2014 as a light flyweight in the Elite Men’s Division. He has average power as 48 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage and he has halted just two of his past 10 opponents.
Jerusalem measures 5-feet-2-inches tall with a 62-inch reach. His first pro defeat came at the hands of Chayaphon Moonsri by 12-round unanimous decision in 2017 in a shot at the WBC Minimumweight Title after having a point deducted in the eighth round for a low blow. The final scorecards read 114-113, 114-113 and 115-113. He then lost his very next fight when Joey Canoy beat him via a 10-round unanimous decision after Jerusalem was dropped in the seventh round and once again was deducted a point for low blows in the eighth round.
The third loss on his record came to Oscar Collazo in May, 2023 when he was stopped after seven rounds to lose his WBO Minimumweight Title. Jerusalem had won the belt just four months earlier when he halted Masataka Taniguchi in the second round. He bounced back well though with the two wins over Shigeoka and the victory over Luis Castillo.
The 22-year-old Kuse is a southpaw who hails from Eastern Cape, South Africa and climbs through the ropes with a mark of 9-3-1 with 4 Ko’s. He’s boxed 107 rounds since making his pro debut as a teenager back in 2018. As an amateur he reached the semifinals of the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas. Unfortunately there’s no height and reach information for Kuse so we don’t know how he compares size-wise with Jerusalem.
As far as power is concerned, Kuse is just below average as 44.4 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s halted two of his last eight opponents. Kuse’s first defeat was a 12-round unanimous decision to Oxolisa Magusha in 2019 in a shot at the South African Minimumweight Title. He won the belt in his next fight by stopping Sibusiso Bandla in the fifth round. However he lost the crown in his first defence when Bangile Nyangani edged him via a 12-round majority decision.
Kuse met Nyangani in a rematch two fights later and regained the title with a 12-round unanimous decision. He then added the vacant African Boxing Union Minimumweight Belt in 2023 with an eighth-round TKO over Halid Kalama and the vacant WBC Silver Minimumweight Crown via a 12-round majority nod over Beaven Sibanda. Kuse’s lone draw was a four-round affair with Athenkosi Thongwana in 2019.
Prediction…
Kuse is nine years younger than Jerusalem with a little less power but he has fine boxing skills. He proved he deserved to share the ring with the champion in their first fight but fell just short. Jerusalem used his speed and boxing skills to beat Shigeoka twice and those attributes were just a bit too much for Kuse. This should be another close, hard-fought contest but I think the outcome will be the same as their first fight even though Kuse will be fighting at home this time around.
Jerusalem has a slight edge in most areas.
Play Jerusalem -140 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Melvin Jerusalem betting • Siyakholwa Kuse betting