BY NICK GIONGCO
Jerwin Ancajas makes his long-awaited Las Vegas debut on April 11, the day he makes the ninth defense of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown.
After making stops in Macau, Belfast (Northern Ireland), Brisbane (Australia) Corpus Christi, Oakland, Fresno, Stockton and Puebla (Mexico), Ancajas finally gets to showcase his wares in Sin City.
Mexican Jonathan Rodriguez will be his opponent in a scheduled 12-rounder at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, a fight that was supposed to have taken place last Nov. 2 in Carson, California.
Travel document issues forced Top Rank to scrap the bout at the last minute and Ancajas was then booked to bring his act to Puebla where he stopped Chilean Miguel Gonzalez.
Ancajas, 28, (32-1-2 with 22 KOs) won the IBF 115-ob crown in September 2016 and is one of boxing’s longest reigning titleholders.
The underdog Rodriguez, 24, (21-0 with 15 KOs) will be fighting for the first time outside Mexico.
To get ready for Rodriguez, Ancajas set up camp in Dipolog City and is preparing to head to Las Vegas for the next phase of training camp.
Meanwhile, Filipino Giemel Magramo’s shot at the vacant World Boxing Organization flyweight crown set April 4 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo has been postponed owing to the coronavirus outbreak.
Magramo was supposed to battle Junto Nakatani of Japan for the WBO 112-lb title.