Jerwin Ancajas’ dreams of landing big TV fights will have to wait a little longer.
That is after his scheduled eighth title defense against Jonathan Javier Rodriguez was canceled after the Mexican challenger failed to get his US visa on time.
Ancajas’ camp scrambled on Friday to move the fight to Mexico, but Sean Gibbons, chief of copromoter MP Promotions, said everything’s still up in the air at the moment.
“Nothing yet,” said Gibbons, when asked regarding plans to reschedule the fight.
The fight was supposed to be carried by ESPN, which would have been the perfect vehicle for Ancajas to penetrate the picky US market and command big fights in the division in the future.
Ancajas, the stylish, 27-year-old southpaw, is hoping to clear the junior bantamweight division and set up a big-stage encounter with superstar Juan Francisco Estrada.
Until the visa snafu ensued just two days before he was set to face Rodriguez on Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Gibbons said Rodriguez’s failure to obtain his visa prevented the Mexican from getting a medical license in the State of California.
“The issue was being dealt with by immigration lawyers,” Gibbons told the Inquirer. “Things happen.”
The IBF junior bantamweight champion Ancajas is already in the United States for the past week, as he has left nothing to chance in hopes of closing out the year with an explosive victory and be noticed by the US market as a legitimate crowd-drawer.