By NICK GIONGCO
Jerwin Ancajas immediately made himself comfortable as soon as he slid into the comfy business class seat of the Philippine Airlines Boeing 777-300 late yesterday morning for the 14-hour trip to Los Angeles.
The reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight champion swears everything is in place as his mandatory defense against Jonas Sultan nears.
Barely two weeks before meeting Sultan in Fresno, California, Ancajas was cool, calm and collected.
“I am excited and can’t wait to defend the title,” said Ancajas, who will be making the fifth defense in the first all-Filipino world title fight in 100 years.
Ancajas insists that he had done everything in training and he is ready to defend the IBF 115-lb crown in style.
“I weigh 122 lbs right now and that’s exactly where I want it,” he said.
“ You go down in weight gradually and w i t h m o r e than ten days before the weighin, that’s no cause for concern,” said the southpaw champion.
“I am ready to go…ready to rumble,” he added before hanging up, sounding very certain that all is well.
But it wasn’t so.
The IBF belt was left at home in Magallanes, Cavite, amid all the frenzy surrounding the team’s departure for the US.
Just before boarding, Ancajas’s chief handler Joven Jimenez phoned his wife Maribeth to ensure that the belt be flown in by another group that is set to leave tomorrow.
That is another story.
