FILE – Jerwin Ancajas makes his ring entrance for a title defense against Fernando Martinez at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on February 26, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Steve Marcus/Getty Images/AFP
MANILA, Philippines–Jerwin Ancajas gets another shot to regain his world champion status when he challenges Japan’s Takuma Inoue for the WBA bantamweight belt on November 15 at Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
The bout against the younger brother of pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue will mark Ancajas’ second crack at reclaiming a world title since losing the IBF strap to Argentine Fernando Martinez back in February 2022 when he was still campaigning at super flyweight.
Ancajas dropped a second straight unanimous decision to Martinez in their rematch eight months after their first encounter.
𝐓𝐎𝐊𝐘𝐎 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 🇯🇵 @TakumaInoue_122 will defend his WBA Bantamweight crown against Jerwin Ancajas Nov. 15 on @ESPNPlus. pic.twitter.com/5qihNpIA2N
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 10, 2023
The 31-year-old Ancajas, who had been struggling to make the 115-pound limit, has since climbed to a higher weight class.
Ancajas (34-3-2, 23KOs) last fought Colombian journeyman Wilner Soto at super bantamweight where the pride of Panabo, Davao del Norte won via fifth-round stoppage less than four months ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Takuma (18-1, 4KOs) has won five in a row since losing to Nordine Oubaali for the WBC bantamweight belt in November 2019.
He’s also beaten five Filipino fighters in the past but has never faced a caliber of opponent as quality as Ancajas, who successfully defended his super flyweight strap nine times from 2017 to 2021.
Ancajas has been training in Las Vegas for the past several months.