Jerwin Ancajas, the reigning IBF junior bantamweight world champion, with his trainer and manager Joven Jimenez during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at Golden Phoenix Hotel in Pasay City. Mark Giongco/INQUIRER.net
Alot will be at stake for Jerwin Ancajas the moment he steps into the ring with Japanese-Korean challenger Teiru Kinoshita on July 2 in Brisbane, Australia.
Not only will Jerwin Ancajas’s IBF junior bantamweight title be on the line, but also his immediate future in boxing is hanging in the balance.
Joven Jimenez, Ancajas’ trainer and manager, said his prized ward has received offers to fight in the US and whether it pushes through or not will depend on his performance against Kinoshita.
“If he wins, there will be a big chance that he fights in the US. Right now, people are trying to see if he’s good enough and if he has what it takes,” Jimenez said in Filipino.
The 25-year-old Ancajas, who owns an impressive record of 26-1-1 with 17 knockouts, won his first world title in September of last year after outpointing McJoe Arroyo of Puerto Rico and successfully defended the belt five months ago against Jose Alfredo Rodriguez of Mexico in Macau.
But his bout against Kinoshita will be his biggest one yet.
The fight is part of the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn main event which will be staged at Suncorp Stadium, a state of the coliseum capable of seating over 50,000 people.
With the caliber of a fighter like Pacquiao, who is an eight-division champion, and a hometown boy in Horn, a big crowd is expected to fill up the stadium come fight night.
Ancajas, who hails from Panabo, Davao del Norte, said it will be his first time fighting before a huge crowd and admitted there is an added pressure being in an unfamiliar position.
“The first time I fought in the undercard of a Manny fight, I was the first one who fought so there wasn’t a lot of people watching,” Ancajas, who knocked out his Tanzanian foe in the third round that time, recalled in Filipino. “Now, I will just have to adjust and prepare myself mentally on how to deal with the crowd.”
Ancajas and his team leave for Brisbane on Saturday.