Close but with cigar
WHAT was supposed to be a walk in the park turned out to be a rumble in the jungle.
Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas retained his IBF junior bantamweight (115 lbs.) title for the ninth time but got more than what he bargained for in Mexican challenger Jonathan Javier Rodriguez.
Rodriguez turned out to be tougher than advertised and Ancajas had to dig deep in his bag of tricks to keep the title.
Employing a pesky right jab and unloading body punches that would have made for the best alternative for liposuction, Ancajas dominated the early rounds of the fight as Rodriguez seemed too tentative.
Living up to the pre-fight scouting report, Rodriguez offered the killer instinct of a nun in the early rounds. Rodriguez was looking to throw the right hand, but Ancajas was too slippery and wisely kept his distance.
Rodriguez finally decided to let his hands go in the sixth stanza, when he started unloading his share of body shots. This was the first competitive round of the fight, with both men trading with gusto.
The fighters were trading at will in the eighth round when Ancajas got the better of the exchanges. A series of head and body shots from Ancajas finally dropped Rodriguez. Rodriguez beat the count and was saved by the bell, but his fate seemed sealed.
Rodriguez was asked by his cornermen if he wanted to continue and to his credit the Mexican refused to throw in the towel. Rodriguez was wobbled on several occasions in the ninth round but refused to cave in.
The tenth round was supposed to be the icing on the cake for Ancajas but inexplicably the complexion of the fight changed.
Ancajas suddenly could not dodge Rodriguez’s punches and when the champ started holding the Mexican’s elbow to keep his offense in check, it appeared from this writer’s view that Jerwin was in trouble.
Rodriguez roared back to life in the last three rounds of the fight.
Sensing Ancajas was fading, Rodriguez landed some vicious body shots of his own. Ancajas had to summon whatever boxing skill and toughness he had left to ward off Rodriguez’s offensive thrusts.
Rodriguez captured the last three rounds and after the bell sounded to end the brawl, both fighters went down on their knees out of sheer exhaustion.
Ancajas was awarded a unanimous decision, but the scorecards should have been closer. Still, there was no doubt Ancajas deserved to retain the title, but the struggle he went through was for real.
Ancajas singled out Rodriguez as his toughest test to date and he also admitted that the ring rust almost took its toll on him. Ancajas disclosed that he started feeling iffy around the sixth round and almost unraveled in the last three rounds.
Going into the Rodriguez fight, Ancajas had been inactive for about a year and four months. The fight was supposed to take place in November 2019 but was called off because of Rodriguez’s visa problems. Ancajas fought Miguel Gonzalez instead and stopped him in December 2019.
The Rodriguez fight was moved to April 2020 but was canceled again because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is thus relatively easy to imagine Ancajas overtraining for this fight.
With the victory, Ancajas remained the most dominant incumbent champion at 115 pounds. He earlier expressed interest in fighting former champ Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, but the fight may not be easy to make as the Nicaraguan is headed for a third fight with current WBA junior bantamweight king Juan Francisco Estrada as per the directive of the WBC.
Power puncher Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, a former WBC champion, is also in Ancajas’ hit list but the Thai has also been directed by the WBC to meet Mexican Carlos Cuadras. It appears that the WBC is bent on keeping in its turf the most lucrative names in the division.
At the moment, the best option for Ancajas is a unification showdown with WBO counterpart Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 knockouts) of Japan. There are already subtle moves to have an undisputed champion at 115 lbs. and if Ancajas succeeds in unifying the WBO and IBF crowns, there can be no unification tournament without his name in it.
Another option is to move up the heavier bantamweight (118 lbs.) division.
Ancajas has been the junior bantamweight champion since 2016 and it is possible that he faded against Rodriguez because he could no longer handle the weight. The Rodriguez fight was not the first time Ancajas ran out of steam at the tail-end of the fight and it may be time to bulk up to a more comfortable weight class.
The bantamweight division also offers lucrative opponents, notably WBAIBF champion Naoya Inoue of Japan.
For now, it is great to see Ancajas back in action. The best move right now is to get him back in the ring, pronto, and avoid another lengthy stay in the cocoon.