FRESNO, Calif. — The champion and challenger met face-to-face one last time at the weigh-in on Friday, conquering the scale before attempting to conquer one another.
With a Filipino flag lifted behind both fighters, IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas checked in at 114.8 pounds, while mandatory challenger Jonas Sultan weighed 114.4 pounds.
Once again, Ancajas stared daggers at Sultan, exhibiting an uncharacteristic serious demeanor. Sultan, fighting in his first world title bout, just stared right back at him. The two didn’t shake hands after parting.
“Maybe,” Sultan (14-3, 9 knockouts) said when asked if Ancajas was trying to intimidate him.
“But I’m not scared.”
Ancajas’ matchmaker Sean Gibbons says the fight has turned personal for Ancajas due to the stakes and bragging rights between two fighters from the Philippines.
“I think this is more personal for Jerwin. I feel there’s more pressure. There’s a very nice side to him, and there’s a side that’s very competitive,” said Gibbons. “He is not angry but he knows he wants toti win and there’s so much at stake. What I read into it is, I feel bad for Jonas Sultan.”
Sultan’s trainer Edito Villamor believes the switch to a more confrontational approach from Ancajas could be indicative of what their camp has observed about Sultan.
“Maybe he wants to scare Jonas. Maybe they saw that Jonas is very well-prepared. You see the body of Jonas, he’s confident,” said Villamor.
Unspoken about the first all-Filipino world title fight in 93 years is the clash between ALA Gym, the country’s most established boxing stable in Cebu, and Survival Camp, Ancajas’ new Cavite-based compound which has grabbed headlines since he became champion.
“What plays into everything too is family. You lose this, you lose everything you worked for. And losing to a Filipino…it’s one thing losing to a guy from another country but you can’t lose to another Filipino and talk about building back up,” said Gibbons.
“It would be devastating to lose. There’s no second place.”
The fight between the two Filipinos will be broadcasted live on ESPN+ in the United States and on ESPN5 in the Philippines.
Ancajas returned to the hotel to refuel with home-cooked meals of fish and rice prepared by team cook Delfin Boholst, while Sultan is under the nutritional oversight of conditioning coach Nick Curson, who has outlined seven to eight small meals consisting of rice, bulalo and tinalong manok.
The fighters will have to undergo a same-day weigh-in on Saturday morning and cannot exceed the weight limit by ten pounds, according to IBF rules.
While the main event fighters exhibited professionalism on the scale, the same couldn’t be said of the challenger in the co-feature. WBA junior bantamweight titleholder Kal Yafai (23-0, 14 KOs) of Birmingham, England came in at 114.8 pounds, while Mexico’s David Carmona (21-5-5, 9 KOs) missed the cut-off limit for the next division up at 118.6 pounds.
The fight is still on but Carmona cannot win the title on Saturday and will be fined 20 percent of his purse payable to Yafai. The fight will still be contested for twelve rounds with eight ounce gloves, but a same-day weigh-in will be a matter between the camps without limits.
In what will be the final fight before the title fights begin, John Vincent Moralde, a Filipino boxer from Davao City, weighed 132 pounds while Ismail Muwendo (19-0, 12 KOs) of Uganda weighed 132.6 pounds. Moralde (19-1, 10 KOs) is seeking to redeem himself after suffering his first loss in his most recent fight, a seventh-round stoppage to Toka Kahn Clary in his U.S. debut.
Refereeing the Ancajas-Sultan fight will be American Wayne Hedgpeth, a 26-year veteran official, with three California-based judges: Daniel Sandoval, Zac Young and Jonathan Davis (who was born in Cebu). Working Ancajas’ corner will be head trainer Joven Jimenez, plus Todd Makelim, Robert Jalnaiz and Delfin Boholst. Sultan’s corner is compromised of Edito Villamor, his brother Edmund Villamor, conditioning coach Nick Curson, and cutman Dr. Ed de la Vega.
