Patience pays off

Hard work and patience pay off for IBF junior bantam holder Jerwin Ancajas (left) and chief trainer Joven Jimenez. —ROY LUARCA

Dallas, Texas—An obedient student, Jerwin Ancajas was satisfied with the grade given to him by his mentor, Joven Jimenez.

Though he knocked out Mexican Israel Gonzalez on Saturday night to retain the International Boxing Federation junior bantamweight crown, Ancajas only got a seven on a scale of 1 to 10 from Jimenez, who cited that his ward was a bit slower than usual.

According to Ancajas he was in top shape and could have stepped on the pedal from the opening bell of the duel held at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi.

He didn’t rush up because Gonzalez’s style was different from that of Jamie Conlan, whom he knocked out in six rounds, last November in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“I don’t want to be overly aggressive because it might put me in jeopardy,” Ancajas, who scored a flash knockdown in the opening round, said in Filipino. “He has a counter and he might have one lethal punch.”

Once he had studied Gonzalez’s patterns and movements, however, Ancajas started probing in, going deeper or darting out interchangeably, while keeping his impregnable defensive stance.

Unable to penetrate without getting hit, Gonzalez eventually stopped attacking and by the eighth round, switched on survival mode.

Ancajas would have settled for a shutout decision, but Gonzales made a mistake and paid the price with two more knockdowns and stoppage at the 1:50 mark of the 10th round.

After the fight, Team Ancajas was feted with a victory party by the Filipino-American community. They will leave for Manila on Tuesday.