IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas delivers again

Saturday night in Uncasville, Connecticut, Jaron “Boots” Ennis (27-0, 25 KO’s) scored a beautiful, 6th round KO over former world champion Sergey Lipinets to, again, show he is a welterweight to be keeping an eye as he moves towards a world title shot.

Also, another 147-pounder to note was Eimantas Stanionis, who moved to 13-0, with 9 KO’s when he shut out former world title challenger Thomas Dulorme.

But, the fight of the night belonged to Philippine star Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KO’s) who made an impressive 9th (Yes, 9th!) defense of his IBF world super flyweight title by out slugging rugged challenger Jonathan Javier Rodriguez in a thrilling back and forth war in what was clearly the fight of the night. However, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has followed the career of the affable young man who is handled by Sean Gibbons out of the Manny Pacquiao Promotions stable.

Ancajas won the world title back in 2016 when he took the belt from defending champion McJoe Arroyo with a 12 round unanimous decision. Outside of a draw with Alejandro Santiago Barrios, back in 2018, Ancajas has been perfect in collecting 6 KO’s and 2 UD over his 4 1/2 year run as champion.

While Ancajas can box from the perimeter and work the head and body effectively for the full 12 rounds if need be, he has never met a slugfest he didn’t like, and Saturday night, at The Mohegan Sun, it was no different. The bell rings and he’s coming at you – great stuff for fans of all-action fights.  

Ancajas is one of boxing’s hottest boxers, in one of boxing’s hottest divisions, in terms of (potentially) great matchups. The 115-pound category features division sizzlers Roman Gonzalez and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, WBA and WBC boss Juan Francisco Estrada and Japan’s WBO champion Kazuto Ioka. While obviously, a unification bout with multiple title holder Estrada, or division star “Chocolatito” Gonzalez would be a welcome phone call, Gibbons is open to any and all offers as he is looking to put Ancajas in with the biggest names in the division in what he knows would be an outstanding match up.

“Jerwin has a lot of respect for all his fellow titlists, and obviously guys like Gonzalez and Rungvisai”, said Gibbons after Ancaja’s big win Saturday night, “but he is looking to fight them and show he belongs at the top of the division”, he said. “This guy loves to fight, and he wants to fight the best”, said Gibbons. “He wants all the belts, and he wants to take on all the champions. This guy couldn’t be in a bad fight if he tried. You want an exciting slugfest? Well, look at what you saw tonight (Saturday night). He has more title defences than any active champion today and he is looking to unify”.

Ancajas, always well-spoken and respectful, was happy with his win Saturday but is excited for bigger things down the road.

“I’m very happy to get the win. I waited a long time for the opportunity to get back in the ring and it’s exciting to win in my first fight on this stage fighting on Showtime,” Ancajas said. “It’s a big win for my whole team. For me, I will wait for the plan of my coaches and promoter and hope to get a chance for a unification fight,” Ancajas said. “I want to fight all of the other champions in this division. Estrada, Chocolatito and all of the big names. I proved again that I’m a real champion and I deserve to be on the level with the rest of the champions.”