Ancajas’ title defense looms
Holed out in Los Angeles the last four months, the shifty southpaw last fought in December 2019 in Puebla, Mexico, where he halted Chilean Miguel Gonzalez
Filipino world champion Jerwin Ancajas has seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
After being made to wait and train without a fight in sight since October, the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight king has been told that Top Rank is poised to include him in a show in late-April in Las Vegas.
If indeed the fight materializes, Ancajas is going to defend the
IBF 115-lb crown against Jonathan Rodriguez of Mexico, the same guy he was supposed to face in April last year just before the world was plunged into a lockdown. Holed out in Los Angeles the last four months, the shifty southpaw last fought in December 2019 in Puebla, Mexico, where he halted Chilean Miguel Gonzalez.
Since arriving from Manila, Ancajas has trained almost exclusively in a makeshift gym that MP Promotions chief Sean Gibbons had rented out also for two other fighters: Tokyo Olympics qualifier Eumir Marcial and Jonas Sultan.
Now that Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum is setting the stage for the ninth defense of the title he had won September 2016, the southpaw is expected to relocate to a regular gym.
Since beating McJoe Arroyo of Puerto Rico for the title, Ancajas has defended it against Jose Rodriguez (Mexico), Teiru Kinoshita (Brisbane), Jamie Conlan (Belfast), Israel Gonzalez (Corpus Christi), Sultan (Fresno), Alejandro Gonzalez (Oakland), Ryuichi Funai (Stockton) and Gonzalez (Puebla).
Ancajas is one of four current Filipino world champions after Manny Pacquiao, John Riel Casimero and Pedro Taduran, all talents of the starstudded MP Promotions.
Also being represented by MP Promotions are Marcial, interim World Boxing Association bantam king Reymart Gaballo and undefeated featherweight Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo, who is training under Freddie Roach.