International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas was prim and proper during the 18th Elorde Boxing Awards on Sunday night you?d think he was answering questions one would usually hear during a beauty pageant, world peace forum or global warming summit.
Facing mandatory challenger Jonas Sultan for the first time, Ancajas spoke highly of his shorter but beefy rival and Facebook friend that it?s hard to believe they are going to try to beat each other up in a few months.
Top Rank chief Bob Arum is in the process of naming the exact date and location of Ancajas? fifth defense of the IBF 115-lb crown with San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas being eyed to host the first all-Filipino world title fight in almost a century.
The much-awaited fight, the first since 1923 when Pancho Villa defended against Clever Sencio at Wallace Field (now Luneta), according to the Hall of Fame promoter, will happen late-May or early-June.
?We?ll show boxing fans that our fight will be worth watching even though we are both Filipinos,? said Ancajas before receiving the night?s top award at the Okada Manila.
?I know Jonas will be in great shape when he fights me and that would make our fight something to look forward to,? said Ancajas, who is about two inches taller than the Cebu-based puncher.
Sultan, who admitted to feeling a bit embarrassed standing beside Ancajas, insists that while he doesn?t harbor any ill feelings about Ancajas, he has a job to do in the ring.
?Nothing personal, (it?s purely) business,? said Sultan, who also received an award during the banquet that had Manny Pacquiao as main guest and speaker.
Their fight was originally booked for April 14 in Las Vegas but Arum was compelled to scrap the show when Terence Crawford, who was facing Jeff Horn in the main event, injured his right hand during training.
Despite the exchange of kind words, a keen observer of the proceedings summed it all up in one sentence.
?On top of the ring, they?ll be enemies,? said three-division world champion Donnie Nietes.
