By REYNALD MAGALLON
Jerwin Ancajas failed in his bid to give the country its lone boxing champion after falling to the hands of defending champion Takuma Inoue in the ninth round of their World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title bout at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on Saturday, Feb. 24.
Not known for his knockout prowess, Takuma shattered all doubts and demonstrated the very same firepower his brother Naoya Inoue has after sending his Filipino challenger down to the canvas with a pair of wicked body shots that proved to be enough to keep his bantamweight crown.
The younger Inoue, who banked on his speed to dictate the early goings of the fight, dared to fight Ancajas in close range, trading body shots with the Filipino southpaw.
While the scenario looked to be favoring the style of Ancajas, it was actually Inoue who got the upperhand in the exchange by setting up his finishing blows with a huge left to the head of his 32-year-old counterpart.
The Filipino former world champion retaliated with body blows of his own but the Japanese champion fired back and delivered the two brutal right body shots – the last of which left Ancajas down and gasping for air.
The pride of Panabo, Davao City couldn’t even stand in pain as referee Mark Nelson reached the count of ten, stopping the bout at 44-second mark of the ninth round.
The 28-year-old Inoue improved his record 19-1 with five knockouts while Ancajas suffered the first stoppage loss of his career to drop to a 32-4 slate with 23 KOs.
Inoue actually started out strong, displaying impeccable precision as he caught Ancajas on several counter punches while maintaining his distance in the first two rounds.
Suffering the same fate although not as fortunate was another Filipino Jonas Sultan.
The Cebuano fighter couldn’t even get through the first round after succumbing to a left straight to the body that put an abrupt end to the fight with 50 seconds left in the opening frame.
The 32-year-old Sultan reeled in pain on the canvas and while he tried to get up and still put up a fight, referee Michiaki Someya had seen enough to wave off the contest much to the delight of the Japanese crowd.
Masuda improved his record to 4-1 all wins by way of knockout while dashing any hopes for Sultan to get another shot at a title eliminator. He fell to a 19-7 record with 7 KOs.
