ANCAJAS PLANS NEXT MOVE AFTER KO WIN OVER GONZALEZ
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 05 Feb 2018
Jerwin Ancajas made success in his U.S. debut and triumphantly defended his IBF super flyweight title. Ancajas (29-1-1, 20 KO) floored an annihilated Israel Gonzalez three times and stopped him in the 10th round. Gonzalez (21-2, 8 KO) went down for the first time in less than a minute into the first round with a ferocious left hand from the southpaw champion. The Mexican challenger gave his best and was able to hang on to the fistic supremacy shown by Ancajas, but in the end the Filipino champ's dominance succeeded.
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Halfway in the 10th round, Gonzalez visited the canvas again courtesy of a left hand by the Panabo City titlist. The fight was obviously in the bag for Ancajas, as the Mexican absorbed a beating prior to the punch that floored him, but he was like a wounded tiger who got up and fought some more. Another left seized him and floored him again, and the referee signalled to end the carnage.
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According to CompuBox, Ancajas landed 130 of 477 (27%) of his total punches, and 84 of 231 (36%) of his power shots. While Gonzalez landed just 48 of 303 (16%) of his total punches, including 46 of 202 (19%) of his power shots. Ancajas was way ahead in jabs, 46-2.
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Ancajas ended Gonzalez?s eight-fight winning streak. Gonzalez was not able to mutilate Ancajas and the Filipino's straight left hand dropped Gonzalez at 1:34 mark in the 10th round. The Mexican rose on one knee then on his two feet. But Ancajas charged on him and Gonzalez went down again, this time with a more solid straight left by the champ. Referee Rafael Ramos immediately stopped the fight at 1:50 of the 10th round.
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?It was a win written exclusively by Ancajas. He did not allow his emotion to take over after scoring a 1st round knockdown and instead patiently worked and followed the fight plan,? said analyst Atty. Ed Tolentino over ABS-CBN News. ?He tore down Gonzalez brick by brick before the fight was eventually stopped.?
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Ancajas wants a title unification fight against any of the three other superflyweight champions Khalid Yafai of WBA, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of WBC and Naoya Inoue of WBO. But Tolentino believes Bob Arum has other plans for the Filipino stalwart and wants another defense before the unification. ?The biggest fight down the road is WBO counterpart Inoue of Japan. Inoue is planning to move up to 118 pounds. Ancajas might follow him there.?
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ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said they have initial discussion with Sean Gibbons, Ancajas' matchmaker, regarding his title defense against Jonas Sultan. Aldeguer was very much appreciative of Ancajas' victory against Gonzalez, but expressed hesitation about that fight. ?As you know I really don't like the idea of a Filipino vs. Filipino fighting for a world title fight. But if we are mandated to do so, then we are going to take it. On the other hand, I think it can also be good for Philipine boxing as a whole because it will show to the world that the Filipinos have arrived in boxing's biggest stage,? Aldeguer was quoted by Philboxing's Dong Secuya.
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Gibbons earlier disclosed to Boxingscene that Ancajas will be going to fight Sultan next: ?We have to do this Gonzalez fight and then we have to do our mandatory against Jonas Sultan and then we pick another fight.? Gibbons also told Philstar sportswriter Quinito Henson: ?We can pay a $20,000 exception fee for a postponement of the mandatory defense but in five or six months, we?ll have to fight Sultan anyway.?
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The 26-year-old Ancajas has now won his last 16 fights, 15 of them by stoppage. The U.S. debut was made possible when he signed with Top Rank, the Las Vegas-based boxing promotion that had steered the career of several champions, including Ancajas' co-promoter and idol Manny Pacquiao.
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Here in the City of Calbayog, Samar, this year?s school-based Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) Meet opened in spite of the rains. About 8,000 coaches, assistants, officials and athletes converged here for the region' s premiere sporting event from February 4-10. There were 13 delegations coming from eight cities and six provinces of Region 8. DepEd Assistant Secretary Revsee Escobedo was the guest of honor during the opening ceremonies, while Secretary Leonor Briones is expected to grace the closing program on February 9. All visitors were welcomed by City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino.
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This writer joined the Maasin City delegation during the opening parade and ceremonies together with City Mayor Nikko Mercado, City Councilors and Maasin City Division officials. This year?s EVRAA meet theme is ?Sports, Culture, and Environment: Bridging the Gap, Shaping the Future.? The last time Calbayog hosted the regional sports event was in 2011. Calbayog is a first-class city in Samar province, with a population of 183,851 distributed in 157 barangays. It is the third largest city in terms of land and water areas in the country.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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