SPORTS SHORTS 213: JERWIN ANCAJAS AND KAZUTO IOKA TARGET JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE UNIFICATION
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 09 Sep 2021
IBF world junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas will travel to Las Vegas to train for the possible defense of his title. "Our flight will be on September 15 or September 18. Manila will be the departure and direct to Las Vegas," coach Joven Jimenez was quoted by ABS-CBN News.
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Ancajas has been training in Bukidnon for several months for a potential title fight in October or November. They are accepting an offer by the camp of WBO champion Kazuto Ioka for a title unification, but the showdown could be scheduled next year.
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The Japanese world titlist recently defended his championship belt against Mexican Francisco Rodriguez Jr., and has announced his target of unification against Ancajas.
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“I still have goals to gain more recognition in the world, there is much more to achieve. My goal is to unify the belts,” Ioka told RingTV. "I can only control my own destiny. I hope for a unification fight with the IBF champion Ancajas.”
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Japan's Kazuto Ioka successfully defended his WBO super flyweight championship for the third time, winning a unanimous decision against WBO No. 2 ranked contender Francisco Rodriguez of Mexico.
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In a bout that was held without live audience at Tokyo's Ota City General Gymnasium, the two fighters exchanged blows with each other in a bloody brawl that was considered even until the final rounds of the match.
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The 32-year-old Ioka's record improved to 27-2 with 15 KOs. It was his 18th world championship title fight win and it was a record by a Japanese fighter. But he was surprised of Rodriguez's ferocity.
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"I had a clear picture in my mind of how he would fight and I was well prepared, but clearly he came all this way to a foreign country determined to win a championship. That showed, and he had me on the back foot a bit," Ioka told Kyodo News.
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"The crowd at the arena usually supplies me with power, so I was a little anxious tonight." The crowdless venue could have affected the way he fought.
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The 29-year-old Rodriguez's record fell to 34-5-1 with 24 KOs. He lost to Donnie Nietes by unanimous decision for the WBO and The Ring light flyweight titles on July 11, 2015 at the Waterfront Hotel & Casino, Cebu City.
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He won the IBF mini flyweight title by stopping Merlito Sabillo by 10th round TKO on March 22, 2014 at the Monterrey Arena, Monterrey, Mexico.
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In January, the Japan Boxing Commission warned Ioka on his tattoos, which were very visible during his New Year's Eve title fight against Japanese compatriot Kosei Tanaka.
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During the Rodriguez fight, his body art, heavily covered at the start of the fight, became visible on his left arm, abdomen and chest as the concealment was rubbed off due to punches and sweat.
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Jerwin Ancajas’ dream of unifying the super flyweight or junior bantamweight titles could soon become reality as fellow champion Kazuto Ioka has the same target.
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Ioka’s goal is to become the undisputed champion at 115 pounds, the same as Ancajas, and his camp is now arranging to set up a unification fight of his WBO title with the Filipino’s IBF crown. Ancajas has also said in some interviews that he aims to become the undisputed champion in his division.
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Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico, the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine champion, would possibly fight the winner of Ioka vs Ancajas if it pushes through, as a final phase towards the junior bantamweight or superflyweight unification.
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Jerwin Ancajas, aged 29 years from Panabo City, Davao del Norte, was the IBF junior-bantamweight champion since 2016. Currently, he is ranked as the world's No. 4 junior-bantamweight by The Ring magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, No. 5 by ESPN and No. 6 by BoxRec.
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He won the IBF junior-bantamweight title against Puerto Rican McJoe Arroyo by unanimous decision on September 3, 2016 in Taguig City.
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Ancajas last fought on April 10 winning by unanimous decision against Mexican Jonathan Javier Rodriguez at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut.
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He has defended his IBF junior-bantamweight title against the following :
Chile's Miguel Gonzalez by 6th round TKO Japan's Ryuichi Funai by 6th round TKO
Mexico's Alejandro Santiago by split decision Filipino Jonas Sultan by unanimous decision
Mexico Israel González by 10th round TKO
United Kingdom's Jamie Conlan by 6th round TKO
Japan's Teiru Kinoshita by 7th round TKO
Mexico's José Alfredo Rodríguez by 7th round TKO
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Kazuto Ioka is a four-weight world champion, winning the WBO super-flyweight title in 2019. He was previously the unified WBA and WBC mini-flyweight titlist, the WBA (Regular) light-flyweight titleholder, and the WBA flyweight king.
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He is ranked No. 10 by The Ring magazine pound for pound and No. 3 in the junior bantamweight by The Ring and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and No. 4 by ESPN and No. 3 by BoxRec.
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Michael Jordan won 3 NBA titles with Scottie Pippen, who only had 3 All-Star appearances. Legendary players like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and Oscar Robertson had teammates, who had accumulated 20+ All-Star games each, that helped them win the titles.
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Russel had 27 All-Star teammate appearances in 11 NBA titles, Abdul-Jabbar had 25 in 6 titles, Johnson had 20 in 5 championships, Bird had 22 in 3 crowns, Chamberlain had 27 in 2 titles, and Robertson had 20 in 1 championship.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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