ANCAJAS IMPRESSES IN US DEBUT
Jerwin Ancajas drops Israel Gonzales in 10th round to defend his IBF super flyweight title in his first stint in the US
International Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas had a stellar US debut with a devastating 10th round technical knockout of Mexican challenger Israel Gonzalez yesterday at the Bank of America Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ancajas immediately sent a message to Gonzalez, dropping him with a counter left hook to the jaw.
The 26-year-old Ancajas dominated the fight and in the 10th round dropped Gonzalez for the second time with a hard left straight to the head. The end came in the 1:30 mark of the same round after Ancajas dropped Gonzalez yet again with a more vicious left straight to the jaw that forced Rafael Ramos to stop the fight.
This was Ancajas’ fourth successful title defense since winning the belt from McJoe Arroyo two years ago in the Philippines. He improved to 29-1-1 with 20 knockouts.
Gonzalez saw his eight-fight winning streak end and dropped down to 21-2 with eight knockouts.
Ancajas has now established himself as one of the future stars in the country and one of the best in the stacked 115-pound division, along with the likes of Naoya Inoue, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras.
Ancajas is one of just two world champions from the Philippines, the other one is IBF flyweight king Donnie Nietes.
Yesterday, Manny (Pacquiao is his co-promoter) prayed for me, and today before the fight, he called me to tell me to be relaxed and to not put any extra pressure on myself. He told me to be myself inside the ring, and that is what I did. It was a tough fight, but I felt very strong all throughout the fight and that’s why I came out with the victory at the end. JERWIN ANCAJAS