FRESNO, Calif.?It?s hardly surprising that Jerwin Ancajas usually ends his training sessions here by playing basketball.
He likes the game so much that he named his two sons with wife Ruth after his two NBA idols ? Jhinjie Kyrie after Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics and JJ Kyle after Kyle Korver of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
No wonder, Ancajas requested chief trainer Jerwin Jimenez to hold off their training Tuesday night so as to finish watching Game 4 of the Western Conference finals between the Houston Rockets and the Golden States Warriors.
The Rockets, rebounding from a 126-85 drubbing in Game 3, prevailed, 95-92, and leveled the series.
Ancajas, however, is more interested in the Eastern Conference finals between his favorites the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Celtics won the first 2 games, but the Cavaliers, powered by LeBron James, roared back with a 116-86 rout in Game 3, followed by a 111-102 victory in Game 4 that knotted the series.
Though he?s rooting for the Celtics a bit more due to the presence of Irving, whose moves he vainly tries to imitate, Ancajas acknowledged the Cavaliers may have the slight edge this time.
While he closely follows the NBA Finals, Ancajas, who also admires the Magnolia Hotshots in the PBA, never lets his mind wander from the mission at hand, his fifth defense of the International Boxing Federation super flyweight crown against countryman Jonas Sultan on May 26 at Save Mart Center here.
Just for Ancajas to be happy and relax, however, Jimenez still brought along a basketball to the fitness center of Courtyard Marriot Tuesday night.
True enough, after an hour-long training session, Ancajas asked for the ball and did some dribbling and fancy passing, similar to what he does in their cemented half court, with a ring attached to a mango tree, at Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite.
After 5 minutes, Ancajas felt satisfied and flipped the ball back to Jimenez.
Boxing, once again, takes precedence.
