After getting help from the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, Jerwin Ancajas spends the last five weeks of training camp in the company of three sparring partners tasked to sharpen him further in time for his title showdown with Japanese world bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue on 24 February in Tokyo.
A couple of days ago, Vincent Astrolabio arrived at the Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite, to serve as one of Ancajas’ sparmates. The two others are Bryl Bayogos of General Santos City and Alex Santisima of Cebu City.
The rugged Astrolabio, a right-hander like Inoue, brings another facet to Ancajas’ buildup.
Unlike Inoue, who is not known to be a heavy-hitter, Astrolabio packs dynamite on both hands.
The General Santos City native holds a 19-4 record with 14 knockouts, his last win a sensational come-from-behind 11th round knockout of Nawaphon Kaikanha in Bangkok last August.
It was a title elimination fight and the victory assured Astrolabio of a crack at the World Boxing Council 118-lb jewels of Mexican Alejandro Santiago this year.
Ancajas and Inoue were supposed to square off last November in Tokyo but a rib fracture sustained by the Japanese forced the postponement.
During the month of December, Ancajas sought the help of the Philippine national team, whose members were in the thick of preparations for next month’s Paris Olympics qualifying tournament in Italy.
Ancajas would report for gym work at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and spar with national team mainstays, including Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam.
With trainer-manager Joven Jimenez supervising his daily grind, Ancajas is looking poised to dethrone Inoue and pull off some sort of a payback for Philippine boxing following the loss of Marlon Tapales to Naoya Inoue.
Takuma is the younger brother of Naoya, the reigning undisputed world super-bantamweight king.
Next month’s clash with Ancajas will be Takuma’s first defense of the crown he had won last April by beating Liborio Solis of Venezuela.
Ancajas, who turned 32 on New Year’s Day, had reigned as International Boxing Federation super-flyweight champion from 2016 until 2022.
During that span, he made nine defenses before losing to Fernando Martinez of Argentina in February 2022 in Las Vegas.
Citing weight problems, Ancajas moved up in weight after failing to get even with Martinez in their rematch in October in Carson, California.
In his bantam debut last June, Ancajas halted Wilner Soto of Colombia in Minneapolis.
Team Ancajas leaves for Japan either on 19 or 20 of February.
