STOCKTON, California?Jerwin Ancajas stopped Japanese mandatory challenger Ryuichi Funai in the seventh round to keep his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight title on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) at the Stockton Arena.
Referee Ed Collantes declared the fight over with just one second into the round upon the advise of the ring doctor, who examined the gutsy but battered and bruised Funai.
Ancajas weighed in 114.2 lbs while Funai came in at 114.4 in the scheduled 12-rounder that marked the Filipino southpaw?s seventh defense of the IBF title that he had won in Sept. 2016 in the Philippines.
Ancajas arrived here on April 23 after spending two months inside the Philippine Marines camp in Ternate, Cavite, in the Philippines.
Before beating up Funai, Ancajas was forced to a 12-round draw by Alejandro Santiago in Oakland in September last year after starting off 2018 in style with a tenth-round knockout win over Mexican Israel Gonzalez in Corpus Christi, Texas.
A mandatory defense against countryman Jonas Sultan in April in Fresno went the distance as Ancajas? slowed down towards the end of the year.
With the smashing win, things are looking up once again for Ancajas, who will likely defend against unbeaten Australian Andrew Moloney in September or October.
