INTERNATIONAL Boxing Federation junior bantamweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas will make his sixth title defense next week in California and as has been the case in the past he is approaching his preparation for it with dogged determination and focus.
Set to take on Mexican Alejandro Santiago Barrios on Sept. 29 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, for his IBF belt, Mr. Ancajas said he is leaving no stone unturned and not treating it as another day at the office and just going through the motions.
“It’s not that I’m already used to it (defending the title) but I recognize that as the champion a lot of fighters are out to get what I have, which is the belt. Which is why me and my team we don’t allow ourselves to have any slip-up in our preparation, especially in training,” said Mr. Ancajas (30-1-1, 20 knockouts) in the vernacular in an interview with BusinessWorld on Saturday at their Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite.
“For this particular fight, we really focused on training and limited our appearance commitments and I can say we are ready,” he added.
Davao native Ancajas is coming off a successful defense over compatriot Jonas Sultan in May, which was the first All-Filipino world title fight in nearly a century.
Mr. Ancajas won convincingly by way of a unanimous decision but still saw himself taken to task by some fans and observers who thought he could have performed better and had a fiery result in the process.
It is something the 26-year-old champion has taken note of and said he would address if the conditions permit.
“I know some fans did not like the performance I had last time around but for this fight we’ll try to make up for it. I want to bring back that exciting fight that people are accustomed to seeing from me,” he said.
Focusing on opponent Barrios (16-2-4), Mr. Ancajas said he is an able challenger who can spring up surprises if allowed to have his way.
“Barrios is a tough fighter and it doesn’t matter whether he is fighting at home or away. He will bring it on. He is an intelligent fighter and reads his opponent well. I’m excited for the challenge he presents because we’re the same fighter in that way,” he said.
Mr. Ancajas and his team are set to leave today for California to continue training there before the title fight.
He said everything is on track and that he is happy how things are progressing.
“I’m happy with the progress of our preparation for this fight. In previous fights when we leave to fight my weight was 10 pounds over, but this time it’s just six pounds over and the conditioning has not left me not too fatigue. The weight is really being managed well,” Mr. Ancajas said.
The Barrios fight is the third in 2018 for Mr. Ancajas, who won the IBF junior bantamweight title in 2016 over Puerto Rican McJoe Arroyo. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
