Tempo

Arum excited to present Ancajas to fight fans

- By NICK GIONGCO

Top Rank simply can’t wait to showcase its latest prized find – Filipino world champion Jerwin Ancajas – to the American audience.

Ancajas, who defends his Internatio­nal Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown against Israel Gonzalez of Mexico on Feb. 3 in Texas, arrived in Los Angeles yesterday (Thursday night in the US) and is booked to host an open workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club the next day.

After his brief stay in La-La Land, Team Ancajas will depart for Corpus Christi on Sunday noon where Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum has lined up a string of activities aimed at introducin­g the IBF 115-lb king to fight fans.

On Tuesday, Ancajas will join Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico in another training session at the Neighborho­od Center Boxing Club. Ramirez, the world supermiddl­eweight champion, is headlining the Feb. 3 show at the American Bank Center.

The following day, a meet-andgreet is on tap with Ramirez and Ancajas sharing the spotlight.

The press conference, where all the personages will be attending, will be held on Thursday at the Brewster Street Ice.

On the eve of the fight, Ancajas and everyone seeing action in the ESPN-televised promotion, will troop to the American Bank Center for the official weighin at 4 p.m.

Ancajas and Gonzalez are approximat­ely answering the opening bell at 9:20 pm of Saturday (11:20 am Sunday in Manila).

Ancajas, making the fourth defense of the title he won in Sept. 2016, is heavily-favored to repulse Gonzalez’ challenge.

Last year, Ancajas made three defenses of the title, traveling to Macau, Brisbane and Belfast, and getting the job done in style.

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