Jerwin Ancajas not resting on his laurels

IBF superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas is making hay while the sun shines and why not? He’s young, extremely talented and eager to make life better for his growing family. Since wresting the IBF crown from McJoe Arroyo in September 2016, he’s made five successful defenses, thrice last year and twice this year. The defenses took Ancajas all over the world – to Macau, Brisbane, Belfast, Corpus Christi and Fresno.

In his sixth defense against Mexico’s Alejandro Santiago, Ancajas will bring his act to the Golden State Warriors’ home, the Oracle Arena in Oakland on Friday. He’s clearly the busiest superflyweight champion around. WBC titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai is making only his third defense against Mexico’s Iran Diaz in Thailand on Oct. 6 while WBA ruler Khalid Yafai has so far repulsed three challengers. The WBO throne is vacant with Donnie Nietes and Aston Palicte, both Filipinos, unable to settle the championship after battling to a split draw at the Forum in Inglewood early this month.

Ancajas, 26, is the third Filipino ever to capture the 115-pound title after Gerry Peñalosa took the WBC version in 1997 and Marvin Sonsona the WBO belt in 2009. Peñalosa lost the crown in his fourth defense a year after winning it. Sonsona was stripped of the championship in his first defense for failing to make weight. He attempted to regain the crown but was stopped by Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. to thwart his bid. Ancajas is in the record books as the longest-reigning Filipino world superflyweight champion.

Ancajas isn’t the type to choose opponents or even venues. He’ll fight whomever, wherever, whenever. Take his defense against Belfast hometowner Jamie Conlan. Ancajas wasn’t bothered by the hostile atmosphere in invading Conlan’s territory. He went about his business just like another day at the office. Conlan was never in the fight and went down in the first, third, fourth and sixth rounds before referee Steve Gray stepped in to halt the carnage at 0:52 of the sixth.

In five defenses so far, Ancajas has hardly raised a sweat. He didn’t lose a round in stopping Jose Alfredo Rodriguez, Teiru Kinoshita and Israel Gonzalez. Against Conlan, Ancajas lost only one round because of a point deduction for low blows. Against Jonas Sultan, two judges had Ancajas losing only one round and another judge, three. So it’s been a breeze for Ancajas in turning back his five challengers.

Santiago, 22, may or may not be a pushover for Ancajas. He’s the IBF No. 14 contender with a 16-2-4 record, including 7 KOs compared to Ancajas’ mark of 30-1-1, with 20 KOs. Ancajas said he’s ready for a dogfight. He never takes any opponent lightly. Overconfidence is something he disdains.   

Las Vegas-based international matchmaker Sean Gibbons said he knows Ancajas has the ability to get the job done convincingly. “Jerwin’s skills are 1,000 percent there to put to work on Santiago,” he said. “What I’d like to see Jerwin do is to go for greatness and not just settle for a decision but pick up his work rate and go for the stoppage. The worst case is he pounds Santiago down in exciting fashion and wins an entertaining decision. But I hope to see a performance like what he did against Gonzalez, dominate Santiago and put an exclamation point on the fight. I’d like to see Jerwin knock out Santiago, Filipino-style.”

The fight will be live streamed on ESPN+, the multi-sport, director-to-consumer subscription service of the Walt Disney Company and ESPN. Ticket prices at the Oracle Arena are in four levels from $26.25 to $105.

California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster has appointed Lou Moret as referee and Chris Wilson, Mike Tate and Marshall Walker as judges. The title fight supervisor will be Peter Podgorski. Moret, 74, was the referee in Bangkok in 1990 when a Filipino from Binan, Cobra Ari Blanca, fought WBA superflyweight champion Khaosai Galaxy. Blanca floored Galaxy in the first round but was stopped in the fifth. He was also the referee when Lennox Lewis stopped Vitaly Klitschko in the final bout of his pro career at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2003. Moret has worked fights involving Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar de la Hoya, Tommy Hearns and Canelo Alvarez so his experience is unquestionable.