Jerwin Ancajas poses for the camera upon arriving in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday. | Photo from Hideyuke Ohashi’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — With less than a week before his much-anticipated world title fight, Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas arrived in Japan on Sunday, February 18.
Ancajas guns to become a two-division world champion by taking on the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) world bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue, the younger brother of Japanese boxing superstar Naoya “Monster” Inoue on February 24 in Kokugikan, Japan.
An underdog heading into the fight, he vowed to dominate the heavily favored hometown boxer in Inoue.
In previous interviews, Ancajas said that he would do his best to dominate every round to get the nod from the three judges at ringside.
He added that he’s very used to fighting abroad and against a partisan crowd.
In fact, he defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) world super flyweight title abroad. He successfully defended his world title nine times in fights held in Macau, Australia, England, the United States, and Mexico before losing it to Fernando Daniel Martinez of Argentina in 2022.
This time, Ancajas sets his eyes on Inoue’s WBO world title in his first fight in Japan.
Inoue’s (18-1, 4KOs) and Ancajas’s (34-3-2, 23KOs) world title showdown was supposedly scheduled last November 15 at the same venue.
However, Inoue suffered an injury during sparring, forcing his promoters to reschedule the bout to February 24.
Also fighting in the undercard on February 24 is Ancajas’s stablemate Jonas Sultan against Riku Masuda in an eight-rounder non-title bout.
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