Golden Boy Promotions and Cotto Promotions, the promoters of Collazo, beat Kameda Promotions, who represented Jerusalem, in a purse bid last Monday (US time). Collazo’s promoters had a winning bid of $152,000, outbidding Kameda Promotions, which offered a $101,000 bid.
The world title fight is scheduled on May 27, which might be held in either Los Angeles, Dallas or San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Jerusalem reportedly will earn 75 percent of the purse, while Collazo will receive 25 percent.
The 29-year-old Jerusalem has already started training for his first world title defense and he’ll be ready to defend it even though it will be fought in enemy territory.
“We’re training hard for this fight. I’ll do my best to defend my title,” Jerusalem told SunStar Cebu.
“I have already trained in the Philippines for a month. We’re going to Japan next week and train there for a month, then come back and get some sparring here in the Philippines. We will finish off our training camp in the US.”
Jerusalem will be looking for sparring partners in the Philippines that have a similar style to Collazo. One of the sparring partners that he’ll be tapping is his former foe and now fellow Sanman boxer Joey Canoy.
“I want Canoy as my sparring partner because he’s quick,” he said.
Jerusalem became a world champion last Jan. 6 after dethroning defending champion Masataka Taniguchi via a second round technical knockout at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan.
On the other hand, the 26-year-old Collazo, a former amateur standout, earned mandatory challenger status after a fifth round knockout of Yudel Reyes in a WBO minimumweight title eliminator at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.
Jerusalem is 20-2 with 12 knockouts, while Collazo is 6-0 with four knockouts. (EKA)