By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
INTERNATIONAL Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas retained his belt on Sunday (Manila time), and rightfully so said a local a boxing analyst after the former stamped his class over challenger and compatriot Jonas “Zorro” Sultan in their rare All-Filipino world title fight in Fresno, California.
Taking the fight right from the opening bell with his crisp technical boxing, Mr. Ancajas proved himself too much to handle for Mr. Sultan to make it a fifth straight successful title defense and continue with his ascent in the realm of boxing while fortifying his claim as the next big thing in the sport in the Philippines.
And the dominance that the Panabo City native showed in his last fight, winning 119-109, 119-109 and 117-111, was not lost to boxing analyst Nissi Icasiano.
“There was a wide gap in technical ability between Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan. Sultan barely hit Ancajas with anything meaningful. It was clear from the get-go that Ancajas is the far superior boxer as he landed his jabs and left straights with ease,” said Mr. Icasiano in an interview with BusinessWorld post-fight.
“Furthermore, Ancajas kept his game opponent at the long end of his stinging jabs and well-timed counterpunches. It was also clear as daylight that Ancajas’ length, reach and stance played a pivotal factor in breaking down his ring counterpart. Let’s us also mention Jerwin’s movement inside the ring. Sultan couldn’t figure out Ancajas’ stick-and-move tactics,” he added.
Mr. Icasiano went on to say that while Mr. Sultan has made significant strides as a boxer in the last couple of years, including racking up five straight victories to put him in title-contending position, the pride of Zamboanga is still rungs below the reigning champion at this point.
“Jonas Sultan appeared that he didn’t belong in the same ring with Jerwin Ancajas. When he was consistently whizzed by Ancajas, Sultan just banked on a Hail Mary shot all throughout the contest. At one point, he didn’t know where the punches were coming. Sultan is known to be a pressure fighter, but he didn’t exert his so-called signature pressure in the ring against Ancajas,” the analyst said.
“He (Sultan) had an inconsistent activity. Sultan landed his first big punch of the bout in round three, unloading a solid counter right that slightly rocked Ancajas. Sultan did make it sort of interesting later in the fight, especially in the 11th round, by finding a home for his left hook a bit more often, but the fight was never really in any doubt. Ancajas opened a big lead early and held it,” Mr. Icasiano.
At this point, with another convincing victory under his cap, Mr. Icasiano said it is progressing and taking all comers for champion Ancajas from here on.
“For Jerwin Ancajas, there are two possible names that could get a date against him. First is Khalid “Kal” Yafai, who retained his WBA super flyweight title on the same card against David Carmona. The second one is Rau’Shee Warren, who is now the no. 1-ranked IBF contender in the division. But between the two, facing Yafai is the more feasible match-up that Bob Arum can make,” he said.
As for Mr. Sultan, all is lost for him after the defeat, but work no doubt needs to be done to elevate his career to another plane, said the analyst.
“For Jonas Sultan, it’s back to the drawing board. The biggest takeaway for him in this matchup is that now he knows what is like to be on the world stage, which I think it would be beneficial to his growth as a competitor. And of course, ALA Boxing has to do the real work if they want Jonas Sultan to transform from a raw talent into a polished fighter by pitting him with the best competition out there,” Mr. Icasiano said.
With the win, Mr. Ancajas improved to 30-1-1 while Mr. Sultan dropped to 14-4.

Performance could have been better — Ancajas and coach

WHILE they welcome and are proud of their latest accomplishment in the ring, International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas and his team are giving his performance a “fair” grade and believe it could have been better.
Dominated challenger and compatriot Jonas “Zorro” Sultan in their all-Filipino world title fight, 119-109, 119-109 and 117-111, on Sunday (Manila time) in Fresno, California, Mr. Ancajas and his handlers said the win still left much to be desired.
“If I were to rate my performance against Sultan from 1 to 10, I would say 7 or 6. It was not as convincing as I hoped,” Mr. Ancajas shared to BusinessWorld in the vernacular following his victory, his fifth straight successful title defense.
“His (Sultan) style was hard to read early on unlike my previous opponents. You just don’t know when he will throw his punches. I could have done better handling that,” he added.
The same observation was shared by Mr. Ancajas’s coach Joven Jimenez.
“It was 7 out of 10. I did not see the speed in him in this fight and it is something we have to address. But credit to Sultan. He showed a lot of heart despite the fight slipping from him as it progressed,” Mr. Jimenez said in separate interview, paying credit as well to the defeated Sultan.
But amid the “struggle” he had, Mr. Ancajas said he is going to use the lessons in the Sultan fight to work on things and improve as a fighter.
“I learned a lot from this fight. One of which is to better adapt to what my opponents can do. I need to work on my speed and footwork. These are some of the things we will address when we get back to the Philippines,” said Mr. Ancajas.
Mr. Ancajas and his team are due back in town later this week. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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