ANCAJAS STAKES TITLE AGAINST CONLAN IN BELFAST ON NOVEMBER 18
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 01 Oct 2017
Jerwin Ancajas will defend one of the remaining three world titles for the country as he stakes his IBF junior bantamweight title against the undefeated Jamie Conlan on November 18 at the SSE Arena at Belfast, Northern Ireland. The card will include unified junior featherweight and WBA featherweight titlist Carl Frampton and WBO bantamweight champ Zolani Tete. The 25-year-old Ancajas (27-1-1, 18 KOs) of Panabo City will face a dangerous foe.
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"It's a dangerous fight for Jerwin," said Ancajas' trainer and manager Joven Jimenez as told to Rappler. "But Jerwin is always ready. Conlan (19-0, 11 KOs) is a boxer, he is a puncher too. He is hungry too." Ancajas has made two successful defenses of his title in Macau and Australia to win both matches via seventh-round stoppages. He stopped mandatory challenger Teiru Kinoshita before more than 50,000 audience in the Pacquiao-Horn supporting bout last July.
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In the undercard of that fight was Jamie Conlan's younger brother, the controversial 2016 Olympian Michael Conlan, and Jamie watched at the ringside to see Ancajas fighting his brother. This is what Jamie Conlan said of Ancajas: ?For one so small, he?s extremely powerful but he?s not just a brawler and a banger. He started out nice and relaxed, patient in his approach. Like all the top Asian fighters around the weight, he?s extremely tough."
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"Ancajas was a big underdog when he won the title, beating a very good champion McJoe Arroyo, a former world medallist and Beijing Olympian, over in the Philippines," added Jamie. ?I?d be an underdog against any of the champions but, looking at that list, Ancajas might be the weakest of the current crop," said the confident Conlan. ?I?m entering this fight with big self-belief that I can bring home the bacon.?
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The most awaited battle between two-time Olympic gold medallists Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux on December 9 at Madison Square Garden will feature two fighters considered as world's greatest amateur boxers. The fight will be televised live over BoxNation. Rigondeaux, the WBA super-bantamweight champion, will be moving up two-weight divisions to challenge Lomachenko?s WBO super-featherweight title.
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WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder's prospective opponent, Luis Ortiz, was tested positive for a banned substance. Their fight is set for November 4 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but most likely Ortiz will be replaced by another foe. He is Wilder's third scheduled opponent in the past 16 months tested positive for an illegal drug. For the second time Ortiz failed a drug test. He was discovered taking anabolic steroid after demolishing Lateef Kayode in one round in September 2014.
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Wilder was set to fight Alexander Povetkin last May, but the fight was canceled after the Russian boxer tested positive for meldonium. Then Wilder was scheduled to face Andrzej Wawrzyk earlier this year, and his foe was pulled out after testing positive for anabolic steroids, and was replaced by Gerald Washington. Wilder has not fought since winning over Washington in February, and the most likely opponent is Bermane Stiverne.
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Conor McGregor recalled his unsuccessful boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather. He said that if he fights him again under boxing rules, the UFC titleholder said he will get that win. "I feel with the lessons I learned from that first fight, if I had another go around, I'd get it," said McGregor. He believes though he won't be fighting Mayweather soon in a rematch. "Now, I'll sit back at a distance. Let's see how he manages this round of money," he added.
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Baku, Azerbaijan this weekend will host the 55th annual WBC Convention. Some 800 delegates are expected to journey to Azerbaijan?s capital city which lies on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. Baku was popularly known when it hosted the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships. A mixture of Middle Eastern and Eastern European cultures, with Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths, Baku is one of the most unique host of a such a huge boxing convention.
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The latest WBO rankings at junior middleweight has seen the elevation of former champion Antonio Margarito (41-8, 27 KOs) into the world ratings at No. 9. Margarito struggled in his last fight against Carson Jones, winning a controversial technical decision on September 2. The 39-year-old Margarito is in the twilight of his career, but his emergence in the top ten of the world rankings could set up a possible trilogy with Miguel Cotto.
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The 2017?18 NBA season will be its 72nd season. The regular season will begin on October 17, 2017, with the Cleveland Cavaliers hosting a game against the Boston Celtics at the Quicken Loans Arena. The 2018 NBA All-Star Game is on February 18, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The regular season will end on April 11, 2018 and the playoffs will start on April 14, 2018.
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Boxing was banned in many American states in the mid-1800s because of the brutality of the sport. It resulted to fistfights that were held secretly in remote areas or even aboard barges that were on the waters outside U.S. jurisdiction. Boxing was used as a combat training strategy for soldiers fighting during World War I. It was used to teach courage, bravery, and perseverance in preparation for the battlegrounds.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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