Photo from Top Rank Boxing Twitter account
Jerwin Ancajas, the stylish, newest heir apparent to Manny Pacquiao, felt he owed fans back home in the Philippines a spectacular knockout win.
He delivered it Saturday night after his devastating technical knockout win over Japanese tough guy Ryuichi Funai to retain his IBF super flyweight crown in Stockton, California.
“This is the fight I owed to all of my fans back home in the Philippines,” Ancajas told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna after the bout.
He also got to finally show everyone he’s worthy of snagging big fights and following the footsteps of Pacquiao.
Ancajas idolizes the Filipino global megastar and also fights under Pacquiao’s MP promotions.
Unlike his previous fights, which put a dent on the 27-year-old fighter’s street credentials, Funai was tailor-made for Ancajas’ fight style.
The Japanese was all too willing to slug it out and absorbed all the punches Ancajas threw at him.
“I was surprised, but with the fighting heart of the Japanese boxers, you can never say never,” Ancajas said after the fight.
Ringside doctor told referee to stop the fight at the start of the seventh round after seeing Funai was no longer fit to go on.
Ancajas improved to 31-1-2, 21 KOs while Funai is now 31-8-0, 22KOs.