OAKLAND ? The morning after nearly losing his world crown, Jerwin Ancajas broke down his tougher-than-expected fight with Mexican Alejandro Santiago, admitting that the challenger messed up his timing.
Wearing sunglasses to hide the puffiness on his face, Ancajas swore Saturday that Santiago and his corner had the edge in strategy as his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown almost got knocked off his head when the fight was ruled a split draw at the Oracle Arena.
?I was struggling all night with my timing,? said Ancajas, who was making the sixth defense of the IBF 115-lb title he won two years ago.
?I just couldn?t catch him,? said Ancajas before his Philippine Airlines left San Francisco for the long flight to Manila.
Even his US matchmaker Sean Gibbons didn?t dispute the fact that Santiago made Ancajas looked bad and exposed the Filipino southpaw a bit.
?It was a bizarre style Santiago had,? said Gibbons, noting however that while the Mexican appeared to have figured out Ancajas, he didn?t do enough to win being the challenger.
Ancajas thought that the fight would end with him flooring Santiago with his favorite left hand.
?That?s how I thought the fight would end,? he said ?But Santiago and his corner anticipated what I was going to do that most of my punches were short,? he added.
Still, Gibbons insists that ?styles make fights? and that Santiago?s was certainly one that showed the ugly side of Ancajas.
With that, Gibbons believes the most important thing is that Ancajas still has the belt and that it is time to move on.
Moving on means that Gibbons would still want to proceed with bringing Ancajas to Bangkok this weekend so he can size up potential rival Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand.
