Jerwin Ancajas (left) and Sukpraserd Ponpitak (right). | Facebook and Boxrec photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former world champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas is set to end his six-month hiatus.
Ancajas will be featured in the co-main event of Melvin Jerusalem’s world title defense on September 22 at the Mandaluyong City College gymnasium in Manila.
Ancajas’s hiatus followed a challenging loss on February 24, when he was knocked out in the ninth round by Takuma Inoue in Tokyo.
READ: Ancajas loses to Inoue via a 9th rd. KO in world title duel
Inoue, the younger sibling of undisputed world super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, claimed the WBA world bantamweight title in that bout.
READ: Ancajas on a mission to end Philippines’ world title drought in Japan
Following this setback, Ancajas took a six-month break to regroup.
Now, he aims to return to his winning form in his fight against Sukpraserd Ponpitak in the co-main event of Jerusalem’s first World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight title defense.
READ: Jerwin Ancajas falls short in bid to regain IBF world super flyweight title
This fight will be part of Manny Pacquiao’s Blow-by-Blow fight card.
Ponpitak, a seasoned competitor, brings a record of 30 wins with 20 knockouts and 19 losses.
Ancajas, who has a professional record of 34-4-2, including 23 knockouts, holds a slight edge in experience. Ponpitak recently secured a majority decision victory over Mikael Arutyunyan of Armenia in Bangkok.