Jerwin Ancajas will have to take matters into his own hands for him to become a world champion for the second time.
“He should go out there and put in like there is no tomorrow,” said Sean Gibbons, whose MP Promotions made it possible for Ancajas to battle Japanese defending champion Takuma Inoue for the World Boxing Association bantamweight crown on 24 February in Tokyo.
As the Filipino southpaw starts to taper off in his training in Magallanes, Cavite, Gibbons told DAILY TRIBUNE that not letting the fight go the distance of 12 rounds is the best way to get the job done.
And that’s exactly what is on Ancajas’ mind as he prepares to depart for the Japanese capital.
Team Ancajas, beefed up by longtime trainer and manager Joven Jimenez, leaves Manila on 17 February, nursing hopes of giving the Philippines its lone world boxing title.
If the fight goes the full route, the scorecards of Kim Byung Moo of Korea, Luigi Boscareli of Italy and Alex Levin of the United States would decide the outcome.
Mark Nelson of the United States will be the third man on the ring.
Filipino fight fans remember Nelson as the referee who figured prominently in Manny Pacquiao’s controversial loss to Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia, in 2017.
But the selection of the Korean and Italian judges that kind of worries Gibbons.
“I just hope that these are fair judges. Just concerned with Italy (judge) and South Korea (judge),” Gibbons said.
Still, Gibbons feels good about Ancajas’ matchup with Takuma, whose elder brother Naoya is the undisputed super-bantamweight champion.
“Jerwinner,” he said.
In the event Ancajas wins, he will become a two-division world champion after he had reigned as super-fly titleholder for almost six years in 2016 until 2022.
On paper, Ancajas’ record is superior to Inoue.
Armed with a 34-3-2 win-loss-draw mark with 3 knockouts, the 32-year-old Ancajas was supposed to meet Takuma last November but the Japanese sustained a rib injury about two weeks before they were scheduled to clash.
Takuma, the Ring magazine’s Prospect of the Year in 2005, has an 18-1 slate with just four knockouts.
Last time he fought was in April 2023 when he snatched the WBA 118-lb belt with a points win over Liborio Solis of Venezuela.
The Ancajas-Inoue duel is part of a three-world title show being put up by Ohashi Promotions.
