Ancajas awaits call to join card
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 24 Jun 2025
Former IBF superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas continues to train with the mindset of fighting on the July 19 card featuring Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas but no opponent has been named so far. Still, Ancajas is staying ready for a call and knows the time will come to break out for another shot at a world title.
“Wala pa binigay na kalaban,” he said. But Ancajas is hoping to join the Filipino parade when Pacquiao takes on WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. He’s now in Los Angeles working with Mark Magsayo and Eumir Marcial who’ve been confirmed to see action on the Pacquiao-Barrios undercard.
Ancajas, 33, said if ever, he expects to fight at a weight limit of 123 or 124 pounds, slightly less than the featherweight cap of 126. Last January, Ancajas captured the vacant Philippine superbantamweight crown via a second round stoppage of Richie Mepranum in Iligan. It was his second straight win since losing to Takuma Inoue on a ninth round TKO in a bid for the WBA bantamweight belt in Tokyo last year. Ancajas reigned for nearly six years as IBF champion in the 115-pound division.
Booked on the July 19 undercard, Magsayo will face Mexico’s Jorge Mata Cuellar in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBC Continental Americas superfeatherweight diadem and Marcial will battle Texas-born Alexis Gaytan in an eight-round middleweight bout. Magsayo, 29, is ranked No. 2 superfeatherweight by WBC and in line for a shot at the throne where O’Shaquie Foster sits. Marcial, 29, has a 5-0 record, with three KOs and is reviving his pro career after taking a respite to campaign in the Paris Olympics last year. Cuellar, 24, is making his US debut and has won his last five outings to raise his record to 21-2-2, with 13 KOs. Gaytan, 30, has won six of his last seven fights and totes a record of 17-10, with six KOs.
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