By Nick Giongco
Top Rank has assured International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight king Jerwin Ancajas of a spot in one of the many shows down the pipeline amid the impending return of the sport in Las Vegas.
But here’s the catch: Ancajas needs to find a way to land in America before Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum lines him up for an appearance.
“The first thing to do is to fly out of Manila and make it to the US before a fight date is given,” said Ancajas’ chief handler and lead trainer Joven Jimenez in Pilipino on Monday from their training camp in Magallanes, Cavite.
Philippine aviation authorities are just in the process of resuming flights in and out of the country and Team Ancajas simply couldn’t provide a projected date for departure.
Still, with the lockdown easing up, it’s just a matter of time before Ancajas finds hinself strapped in the business class section of a Los Angeles-bound flight.
While he is awaiting the go-signal, Ancajas is all tied up in training, according to Jimenez, who got Top Rank’s expression of desire to bring in the Filipino southpaw the soonest from their official US representative Sean Gibbons.
Ancajas was supposed to make the ninth defense of the IBF 115-lb crown last April 11 in Las Vegas but it got scrapped when the US and most of countries initiated lockdown proceedings owing to the coronavirus outbreak.
Next week, another Filipino boxer, Mike Plania, sees action in one of the Top Rank shows in Las Vegas.
Plania, a protege of JC Mananquil of General Santos City, has been in the US the past few months as the lockdown prevented him from returning to the Philippines.
Like Plania, John Riel Casimero, the World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion, is likewise in the US, heavily immersed in his training in a rented house in Ls Vegas.
Casimero was also set to fight in late-April but also fell victim to the lockdown like Ancajas.
Gibbons, who heads MP Promotions, working on a date for Casimero’s next fight.
Top Rank is busy fulling up dates to address the backlog and Ancajas is upeat that Arum gives him his schedule the soonest.
But first things first.
Ancajas has to get on a plane.
