World champion Jerwin Ancajas is poised to figure in what his chief handler labeled “a signature fight” down the road if he succeeds in retaining the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown for the ninth time next month in the United States.
“It will be a fight against somebody who has a belt,” MP Promotions chief Sean Gibbons told reporters during an online press conference that originated from Ancajas’ raining camp in Los Angeles that was arranged by Big Boss Cement, one of the boxer’s main backers.
Ancajas faces Jathan Rodriguez of Mexico on 10 April at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, in his first fight under Premier Boxing Champions banner.
Just recently, Ancajas and Top Rank went separate ways and Gibbons was quick to find an outfit that was willing to showcase the Filipino southpaw.
Owing to the pandemic, Ancajas was unable to fight in 2020 although Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum had actually booked him a fight in April but the coronavirus knocked it off the table.
Gibbons rattled off a few names, including that of World Boxing Association champion Joshua Franco of the US but cautioned everyone that everything will depend on what happens when Ancajas battles Rodriguez.
Out of the question, meanwhile, are Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico and Roman Gonzalez of Nicaragua, acknowledged as the division’s top dogs, since they are being groomed to face off for the third time this year. Ancajas has been training in the US since October and the longtime IBF 115-lb titlist insists he is determined to keep his stranglehold on the belt.
“I am not giving it away,” Ancajas said during the virtual presser where he sat alongside lead trainer Joven Jimenez and Gibbons.
Also joining the Q&A was unbeaten featherweight Mark Magsayo, another MP Promotions talent, who is fighting Pablo Cruz, on the same night Ancajas puts his title on the line.
Magsayo, like Ancajas, has also relocated to the States but he got there much earlier with wife Frances Arbie.
No less than Hall of Fame conerman Freddie Roach trains Magsayo, who packs a 21-0 card with 14 knockouts.
“Coach Freddie is doing wonders in my training. He’s corrected some of my major flaws,” Magsayo said.
