Ready to rumble | Inquirer Sports

Ready to rumble

Don’t be fooled by Ancajas’ politeness: Filipino champ looking for big win
/ 05:35 AM September 28, 2018

Jerwin Ancajas. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Jerwin Ancajas, the reigning IBF world bantamweight champion, is not a big fan of the rambunctious fight-week hype.

On the day he came face-to-face against challenger Alejandro Santiago of Mexico, Ancajas greeted him with a warmth more suited for old friends than enemies scheduled for a vicious square off in the ring.

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They once again crossed paths Wednesday in the final presser with nary an incident that promoters could use to fuel interest in the fight.

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But that doesn’t mean there won’t be fireworks when Ancajas (30-1-1 with 20 knockouts) stakes his two-year-old belt against the dangerous Santiago on Saturday morning (Manila time), at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

The 26-year-old Ancajas vowed to come up with a performance that would finally put him in line for a big fight.

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“The last fight I wasn’t that impressive,” admitted Ancajas. “This time I trained very hard and long. We did things we didn’t do before, and we’ll try our best to come up with a better performance this time.”

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Ancajas is coming from an uneventful unanimous decision win over fellow Filipino Jonas Sultan last May also in California.

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Santiago (16-2-4 with seven KOs) can’t be discounted though as he is also trying to snag bigger paychecks.

The fight card includes as comainer a non-title fight between IBF super middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui (27-2, 23 KOs) and Ezequiel Maderna (26-4, 16 KOs).

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Filipino featherweight contender Genesis Servania (31-1, 14 KOs) will take on Carlos Carlson (22-4, 13 KOs) while Giovanni Delgado (16-7, 9 KOs) fights Joshua Greer Jr. (17-1-1, 9 KOs) in a super bantamweight bout.

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TAGS: Alejandro Santiago, Boxing, Jerwin Ancajas

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