Siyakholwa Kuse eyes revenge in Melvin Jerusalem rematch

Kuse and Jerusalem traded blows for the first time in Manila, in the main event of the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ tribute event. The fight went the full twelve rounds, with Siya Kuse being the more active fighter from rounds one to ten.  

Many fight fans across the world felt that Kuse had done enough to sway the judge’s favour, but the three men ringside did not see it that way, which makes this rematch that bit more compelling. 

This is what Kuse’s trainer, Manny Fernandes said on the result of the first fight. 

“It was a great performance from Siya, and when the fight ended, we actually thought we did enough to win the fight, but it’s obvious we were in his backyard,” Fernades said. 

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“When the announcer read out the scorecards after the first four rounds, me and Brian Mitchell looked at one another and said, ‘what a load of nonsense’. 

“So, from that point on, we knew that the judges were going to make it hard for us to win that fight.” 

Both fighters will now enter their respective training camps and reassess the game plans they used in the first fight, and both men will be eager to end this fight without needing the judges scorecards.  

If Siya Kuse is able to exact revenge on his turf, he will become only the third South African boxer to claim a WBC world title, ending a 26-year drought and becoming the first man to do so since the legendary performance of Dingaan Thobela at Carnival City on September 1, 2000.  

The Mdantsane born Siya Kuse has been presented with a second bite of the cherry, and this time he plans to make it count and win one of the most coveted titles in all of boxing.