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IBF superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas’ fifth title defense against countryman Jonas Sultan is pushing through afterall.
The much-awaited historic fight between two Filipinos fighting for a championship is set to banner a Top Rank boxing card in a five-star hotel in Las Vegas in the last week of May.
The fight was originally set in the undercard of the Jeff Horn-Terence Crawford mainer at the Mandalay Resort and Casino on April 24 but the entire show was postponed. Crawford suffered a right hand injury during a sparring session and Horn’s defense of the WBO welterweight championship has been reset to June 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. According to a report by boxing website Philboxing.com, early reports that that the Ancajas-Sultan bout would remain in the undercard of the Horn-Crawford headliner has been off. With Ancajas’ growing popularity in the US market, one option was to showcase the Panabo, Davao del Norte, fighter in either Los Angeles or San Francisco where there is a large Filipino community. But in the end, it was decided to hold the fight in Las Vegas with the Ancajas defense as the main event. Ancajas’ trainer Joven Jimenez was tight-lipped on exactly when or where the fight will be held. He said Top Rank and Las Vegas matchmaker Sean Gibbons would disclose the final details sometime this week. He said Ancajas has adjusted his training schedule with a fix on a fight date in late May. “Jerwin was already doing 10 rounds of sparring when we were advised of the postponement,” said Jimenez in Pilipino. “So we adjusted his routine to avoid burning out because of the delay. We don’t want Jerwin to peak too early. He went down to sparring four rounds. Once the new date is confirmed, we’ll begin to build up again to 10 and later 12 rounds.” Last Tuesday, Ancajas made a TV appearance with Mark Anthony Barriga, A. J. Banal and Marvin Sonsona at the ESPN5 studios in Mandaluyong. Jimenez said it was the last media engagement for the fighters before strict training at the Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite, without distractions. Barriga, Banal and Sonsona are scheduled to take on separate opponents in a Metro Manila card on May 13. Jimenez said he’s not impressed with video clips showing Sultan in serious training at the ALA Gym in Cebu. “Naninindak lang ‘yan,” said Jimenez. “Sanay na si Jerwin sa mga naninindak. Sina (Jamie) Conlan at (Israel) Gonzalez ginawa rin ‘yun, akala nila nakukuha sa sindak. Tinalo sila ni Jerwin by knockout.” Conlan took four trips to the canvas before referee Steve Gray stopped the carnage in the sixth round in Belfast last November while Gonzalez was dropped thrice in Ancajas’ fourth title defense that was halted in the 10th round by referee Rafael Ramos last month.