IN May this year Filipino International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas will make his seventh defense of his title. And he is not just going through the motions, recognizing that in every challenger he faces is one who is expected to go all out and that he needs to be ready.
To fight Japanese challenger and number one contender Ryuichi Funai on May 4 at Stockton Arena in California, Mr. Ancajas (30-1-2) said he is bracing for yet another tough challenge but nonetheless said he is going to be ready for it.
In a talk with media at their Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite, last week, the Davao del Norte native said he has been training for his next fight since December last year.
Even if he did not know yet at that time who his opponent would be, Mr. Ancajas and his team were already at work to have themselves ready anytime a fight is set.
“Since December we have been training even if we didn’t know then who we will be facing. I’m not worried of being burnt out. I’m used to it. That’s what we have been doing,” said Mr. Ancajas in Filipino.
With his opponent winning his last seven fights, Mr. Ancajas said Mr. Funai (31-7) has been impressive and comes into their scheduled encounter on a high with much momentum.
“Based on what I have seen of Funai he’s a good fighter. In his last seven fights he was impressive, knocking out all his opponents. So we are not taking him lightly. We do not want to be complacent,” said Mr. Ancajas.
The 27-year-old Filipino champion is coming off a split draw against Mexican Alejandro Santiago in a fight that Mr. Ancajas said they learned a lot from.
“We learned a lot from our previous fight. We were not able to make the adjustments to Santiago’s style during the fight as much as we wanted to. Which is why for this fight we are really doing a lot in training to be ready for everything,” he said.
Mr. Ancajas said at this stage of their training he is already at 85 per cent ready and looking to build on it as the fight gets closer.
The champion also shared that he is not looking past Mr. Funai, 33, but hopes to do more in the 115 weight division and possibly meet up against other champions for a unification bout.
The Ancajas-Funai is part of the fight card staged by Top Rank and headlined by the IBF light heavyweight title clash between champion Artur Beter of Russia against challenger Radivoje Kalajdzic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Mr. Ancajas has been a champion since September 2016 when he defeated McJoe Arroyo of Puerto Rico. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
