Melvin Jerusalem finished stronger and certainly needed to, en route to a 12-round unanimous decision win over Siyakholwa Kuse to retain his WBC strawweight world title.

This wasn't an easy fight to score but Philippines' Jerusalem (25-3, 12 KOs) made the third defence of his 105-pound crown against a gamely Kuse effort, with judges Jun Bae Lim and Zanashir Taznaa (116-112) seeing it slightly wider than Samantha Bulner's 115-113 card.

Securing world title unifications must be the priority for Jerusalem in 2026, potentially an all-Filipino fight with IBF beltholder Pedro Taduran (19-4-1, 13 KOs) next after his own points win over a courageous Christian Balunan effort a few days prior to headline the first of two Thrilla In Manila II shows at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila, Philippines.

In a slow-burning affair without much noteworthy action early, Kuse (9-3-1, 4 KOs) looked to chain together powerful one-two combinations and willingly waded into the fire to unload his attacks. He wouldn't know it at the time, but that ill-discipline defensively proved costly.

The first three rounds were stop-start, either for fouling or Kuse repeatedly losing his footing, which briefly aided him as Jerusalem seemed to drop him cleanly with a counter left upside his head in the third stanza, only for referee Cesar Castanon Varela to rule it a slip.

After a strong fourth frame from the challenger, they traded together furiously in round five before Jerusalem’s economical output was being criticised against a more active puncher throwing and pushing him back with volume and body attacks in the sixth.

Jerusalem landed a neat uppercut with a half-minute left in the seventh, but little else as the hushed crowd atmosphere said all you needed to know - aware their champion was behind on the scorecards and those fears heightened early in the eighth after eating counter-punching flurries against a retreating Kuse on his heels.

Every time Jerusalem would land flush or enjoy a fleeting sequence of success, the younger man replied with two or three bursts himself as if to say, is this all you’ve got?

They exchanged body shots early in the ninth, Kuse scoring with right hands before the official ticked the champion off for punching after he called break.

Right on cue, eight-round open scoring gave Jerusalem a 77-75 lead on two of the three judges’ cards while Kuse was up 77-75 on the other. While that felt dubious in real-time, many of the early rounds were difficult to score and Jerusalem connected clean with some good shots himself, even if he was being outworked by Kuse.

Kuse staggered back after absorbing a solid right hand just before the bell in round 10 and they entered the final six minutes knowing world honours still hung in the balance. Speaking of balance, neither man had full control as they grew desperate swinging haymakers.

Jerusalem’s unorthodox approach, flicking out his jab without any defensive regard, was working in stages but Kuse smartly looked to stifle him at close-range as they frantically sought a fight-clinching strong finish.

Jerusalem wobbled Kuse with a straight right hand 15 seconds from the end, they both swung for the fences near the ropes before sharing a respectful embrace after a gritty duel neither could be sure they did enough to win.

Middleweight: Eumir Felix Marcial UD10 (94-94, 95-93 x 2) Eddy Colmenares

Featherweight: Carl Jammes Martin UD10 (98-90, 97-92, 98-91) Aran Dipaen

Heavyweight: Chris Thompson UD8 (77-75, 78-74 x 2) Georgiy Yunovidov

Middleweight: Nico Ali Walsh D8 (77-75, 76-76 x 2) Kittisak Klinson

Middleweight: Vadim Tukov UD8 (79-73, 78-74 x 2) Sena Agbeko

Featherweight: Marlon Tapales KO6 (2:31) Fernando Toro

Junior flyweight: Arvin Magramo SD10 (95-94, 94-95, 96-93) Berland Robles

Lightweight: Ronerick Ballesteros TKO5 (0:50) Speedy Boy Acope

Flyweight: Albert Francisco MD8 (76-76 x 2, 77-75) Ramel Macado Jr

Lightweight: Eman Bacosa UD6 (58-55 x 2, 60-53) Nico Salado