World boxing champion Jerwin Ancajas got a shot in the arm — quite literally — when he got inoculated recently with Pfizer vaccine.
The jab came at a time when the Filipino southpaw was revving up for the ninth defense of his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown against Mexican Jonathan Rodriguez on 10 April in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Ancajas, who turned 29 on 1 January, said he felt fine after being given the first dosage and the side effect was minimal.
“My arm just felt a bit fatigued for a few days but aside from that, everything’s good. I am okay,” Ancajas said in a virtual presser from Los Angeles.
Other members of his team had also been vaccinated.
Ancajas has been training in the United States since October and his ring date with Rodriguez will be his first outing in almost 18 months.
Last time he fought, the Panabo, Davao del Norte puncher stopped Miguel Gonzalez of Chile in Puebla, Mexico, in December 2019.
He was supposed to tangle with Rodriguez in April last year but the coronavirus pandemic scrapped that bout, leaving Ancajas wandering around in the Philippines before finally flying to America.
To prepare for Rodriguez, Ancajas shows up at the Wild Card Boxing Club of Hall of Famer Freddie Roach thrice a week for sparring.
Since taking the IBF 115-lb belt in September 2016, Ancajas has defended against Jose Alfredo Rodriguez of Mexico, Teiru Kinoshita of Japan, Jamie Conlan of the United Kingdom, Israel Gonzalez of Mexico, Jonas Sultan of the Philippines, Alejandro Santiago of Mexico, Ryuichi Funai of Japan and Gonzalez of Chile.
