ANCAJAS AND SULTAN MAKE HISTORY ON APRIL 14
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 14 Mar 2018
Jerwin Ancajas' mandatory defense of his IBF junior bantamweight title against Jonas Sultan is all set on April 14 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, according to matchmaker Sean Gibbons and Ancajas? manager Joven Jimenez as told to RingTV.com. It will be the second fight for Ancajas since signing a contract with Top Rank, and will it be Sultan?s first contest in American soil.
?Contest [is] on its way,? said Gibbons. He is bound to come to the Philippines to oversee Ancajas? preparations at the champion's ?Survival Camp? in Magallanes, Cavite.
Ancajas (29-1-1, 20 KOs) becomes the newest Filipino boxing sensation since he won the IBF title in 2016. He is successful in four title defenses in different countries, Jose Alfredo Rodriguez in Macau, Teiru Kinoshita in Australia, Jamie Conlan in Northern Ireland and Israel Gonzalez in the U.S.
Sultan (14-3, 9 KOs) also started his training at the ALA Boxing Gym in Cebu. He might be less popular but has made his made great upsets in fights overseas. He became the mandatory challenger when he defeated the heavily favored Johnriel Casimero by an upset unanimous decision last September.
?This will be a good fight for me, a real big fight. I?m so proud because I?m fighting now a world championship and a history of boxing,? said Sultan. ?I feel very grateful for this fight with Jerwin Ancajas.?
It will be the first time two Filipino boxers clashed for a world title fight since Pancho Villa defended his crown against Clever Sencio in 1925 at Wallace Field, the place of which is now Luneta then later named Rizal Park in Manila. It was Villa?s penultimate fight before his death. The Ancajas-Sultan match will also be the first all-Filipino title fight in U.S. history.
?Sultan is a very tough fighter, he has everything to beat Jerwin,? said Jimenez. ?That?s why we are preparing hard this fight.?
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum announced that the fight will take place in the undercard of the Terence Crawford-Jeff Horn WBO welterweight title fight. Although, Sultan?s promoter Michael Aldeguer of ALA Promotions disclosed that they have not yet signed the contract.
?That is a formality,? said Gibbons. ?Michael confirmed deal done. And last time I checked Michael?s word was better than gold.?
Sultan is ranked No. 6 by BoxRec in the superflyweight division by virtue of his wins over former champions Sonny Boy Jaro and Casimero, and a knockout victory over Zolani Tete?s brother Makazole in 2016.
Last week, Ancajas' trainer Joven Jimenez told ESPN5 that Top Rank was planning at scheduling Ancajas-Sultan main event in an April 28 card in Philadelphia. But now the bout is back to its original April 14 date. "We are good to go for April 14," Gibbons, who co-promotes Ancajas, told ESPN5.
Gibbons added that Arum changed the original plan to conduct the fight on April 28. "Then on Saturday he told me that we had a few changes and need the fight to go back to April 14. I checked with Coach Joven and he said they are ready, and I checked with Michael (Aldeguer, Sultan's promoter), and they said they are ready. Kaboom! We have Filipino history in Viva Las Vegas!"
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