Former world champion Jerwin Ancajas will resurface as a bantamweight in February 2023.
Having struggled to maintain his weight at super-fly, Ancajas believes he will get back his winning ways by moving up to 118 lbs from 115.
Ancajas is coming off a botched bid to regain the International Boxing Federation crown after bowing to Fernando Martinez of Argentina last month in Carson, California.
By February next year, Ancajas will face a Mexican puncher in a card that will be staged by MP Promotions.
“I think I will be comfortable at bantamweight,” Ancajas, who reigned as IBF titleholder for six years, said during yesterday’s face-to-face Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
Joven Jimenez, who serves as the Filipino southpaw’s manager and trainer, insists the decision to go to bantam was delayed because of Ancajas’ desire to avenge the Martinez defeat.
“In his last few fights, I already saw that he was no longer the fighter he once was,” Jimenez said.
“And that’s when I realized that it was time to go up.”
Ancajas points to his winning a knockout over Japanese Ryuichi Funai in 2018 as the fight that made him realize the need to leave 115.
“Even if I won that fight, I felt something,” Ancajas, 30, said.
Gibbons has grand plans for Ancajas.
Jimenez said after one or two fights at bantamweight, Gibbons will move heaven and earth to get another world title try.
Ancajas is excited and raring to bounce back, admiring that he remains motivated.
“I still dream about winning and becoming a world champion. I will work hard to win a world title again,” Ancajas added.
To prepare for his comeback bout, Ancajas will reach out again to the Philippine Sports Commission for expertise in nutrition and strength and conditioning.
Jimenez said he would also ask the PSC, through chairperson Emmanuel “Noli” Eala, if they can also use facilities within the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
“We love it here,” added Jimenez, who also stayed in the sprawling RMSC decades ago while a member of the military.
PSC commissioner Bong Coo, also guesting in the weekly Q&A, assured Ancajas and Jimenez that the PSC will be more than willing to lend a hand.
