BoxRec

Jerwin Ancajas-Fernando Daniel Martinez IBF Title Fight Set For February in U.S.

Jerwin Ancajas is set for his next fight in the wake of watching a title unification bout collapse beyond his control.

Boxing Scene has learned that the long-reigning IBF junior bantamweight titlist will next face Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez in a bout tentatively scheduled to take place on a February date in the United States. The likely date is February 19, with Rappler.com reporting either New York or New Jersey as the destination.

The bout comes in lieu of Ancajas traveling to Japan for a two-belt unification clash with WBO champion Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15KOs). The two were due to collide this Friday in Tokyo, only for Ancajas (33-1-2, 22KOs) to be pulled from the show due to Japan disallowing foreign travelers to enter its borders since November 30 in efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus variant Omicron.

Japan’s Ioka will instead face countryman Ryoji Fukunaga atop the New Year’s Eve show at Ota-City Gymnasium in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Ancajas moves on. The 29-year-old southpaw from Panabo City, Philippines attempts the tenth defense of the title he won in a twelve-round decision over McJoe Arroyo in September 2016. The bout is just his second since the pandemic after once enjoying a more active schedule, having last fought in an entertaining twelve-round win over Jonathan Javier Rodriguez this past April at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Martinez (13-0, 8KOs) will enter his first career title fight, also making his U.S. debut in the process. The 30-year-old from Buenos Aires, Argentina fights on the road for the third time in his last four starts after having previously fought exclusively in his home country.

The fight with Ancajas—a seasoned veteran who is among the sport’s longest reigning active titlists—is a major step up in class for Martinez, though his best win to date came in his first career fight on foreign soil. Martinez scored an eleventh-round knockout of Athenkosi Dumezweni in December 2019 in East London, South Africa, having traveled abroad two fights later for his most recent fight, a fourth-round knockout of upside down journeyman Gonzalo Garcia (19-22-2, 10KOs) this past August in Dubai.

Ancajas will enter the ring having held his IBF junior bantamweight title for 65 months, the third longest reign among active major titlists. WBC featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr. (31-1, 18KOs; champ since March 2015) and WBA strawweight champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong (23-0, 9KOs; champ since June 2016) are the only current titleholders ahead of Ancajas on the list.

oh great, ioka-ancajas is cancelled, so the 2 of them fight patty cakes instead

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 05:09 oh great, ioka-ancajas is cancelled, so the 2 of them fight patty cakes instead

Then we'll wait til Dec 31st 2022 for them to unify, if they haven't lost already.

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 05:09 oh great, ioka-ancajas is cancelled, so the 2 of them fight patty cakes instead

Fukunaga ain't no patty cake

Fight week!

Hopefully after this we can see the Ioka bout.

Did this fight take place?

Just checked. It's this weekend on the Colbert card.

Tonight!

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑26 Feb 2022, 08:46 Tonight!

And it was awesome!

Jerwin Ancajas Plans To Move Up To Bantamweight Division

Former IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas is ready to move up in weight.

After being at 115-pounds for nearly six years, Ancajas is heading up to the bantamweight limit of 118.

Last Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Ancajas took plenty of punishment in a twelve round unanimous decision loss to Fernando Martinez, who walked away with the IBF's strap.

There was a rematch clause in place, with Ancajas deciding that it's better for his health to move up a few pounds.

The Filipino boxer revealed that he struggled to make the super flyweight limit for last week's defense.

His trainer, Joven Jimenez, said Ancajas woke up at 118 -pounds on the day of the weigh-in - and spent most of the morning shaving off the excess weight until he hit the super flyweight mark.

“Usually, on Friday we’ll just work out a bit before the weigh-in,” said Jimenez to Rappler. “Not this time, he wasn’t really able to recover and rehydrate.”

Ancajas admits that his body began to decline as the fight played out. The boxer's legs seemed to be gone by the second half of the fight - which led to Martinez doing a lot of damage with hard combinations connecting often.

“My body betrayed me,” said Ancajas to the paper. “I could see his punches. I knew they were coming, but I couldn’t react. Even my brain wouldn’t respond, no muscle memory. So I would just absorb them [punches].”

Ancajas said just like the way he made weight, he relied on pure will and heart to last the distance.

“At least, I gave it all," Ancajas said. "I’ve fought as a bantamweight before, but it’s been a long time. I would need a tune-up fight to find out how my body will respond.”

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 05:09 oh great, ioka-ancajas is cancelled, so the 2 of them fight patty cakes instead

Martinez turned out to be more like a sledgehammer cake.

Seeing as the rematch is on the Fundora/Ocampo card in a couple of weeks I thought I'd give this a watch, tremendous fight, never scored it but Martinez looked a worthy winner, he's an absolute handful, throws everything with bad intentions and fights at a frantic pace, just constantly putting pressure and banging Ancajas to head and body, Ancajas tried to fight it out but was always second best, Martinez never visably hurt him but you know those shots were sore, Martinez looks strong as a bull, wasn't sure why there was a rematch with the scores but after watching it should be headlining