By Nick Giongco
LOS ANGELES – Jerwin Ancajas’s face looked as though he was attacked by a swarm of bees a day after his successful defense of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-bantamweight title in Fresno.
After repulsing mandatory challenger Jonas Sultan on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, Ancajas drove back here Sunday afternoon sporting a puffy forehead and a slightly swollen jaw.
The area around his right eye was bluish-black in color and Ancajas even applied cold compress on the affected area as he was getting ready for the three-hour drive here.
But Ancajas clarified that the puffiness and his aching jaw, while fight-related, were not caused by Sultan’s wild punches.
“We accidentally banged heads at least five times,” said Ancajas, who was awarded a lopsided unanimous decision to retain the crown for the fifth time.
Sean Gibbons, Ancajas’ hardworking US agent, said his fighter would make a choice defense in October, also here in the US as Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. promotes the lone reigning Filipino world champion.
“The target is for Jerwin to take on the big names in 2019 and fight the likes of Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada,” said Gibbons.
It is still too early to say who will end up being signed as Ancajas’ sixth title defense foe but there are attractive names on the IBF’s top 15 list.
There is an undefeated Australian, fifth-rated Andrew Moloney, who packs a 17-0 card with ten KOs.
In the meantime, Ancajas will have the luxury of recharging his batteries as he been quite busy the last ten months with four fights squeezed in that short span of time.
Joven Jimenez feels that Ancajas needs to take an extended vacation before returning to training mode.
“We have been fighting every three months since July 2017 and I think Jerwin’s body needs to recover and rest,” said Jimenez.
