Ni Gilbert Espeña
HANDA na at sabik si IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas ng Pilipinas na maipakita sa buong mundo ang kanyang kakayahan laban kay Mexican fighter at No. 10 contender Israel Gonzalez bukas sa Bank of America Center in Corpus Christi, Texas sa United States.
Nasasabik din sa laban maging ang promoter na si Top Rank big boss Bob Arum sa paniniwalang papatok si Ancajas sa boxing fans tulad ni eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.
“Obviously, our whole adventure with Manny was so successful. It took up a good part of my life, certainly the recent part. So you’ve got a kid like Jerwin who is very, very talented and is a lovely kid and you hope that it turns out the same way,” sabi ng Hall of Fame promoter sa BoxingScene.com.
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‘’Again, it’s early and we have a relatively long-term deal with him which hopefully goes on forever and it’s going to depend on A): on how he performs in the ring and B): how good we are in selling a kid of that weight to the public,” ayon kay Arum na pinapirma ng six-bout contract ang Pinoy boxer.
Unang humanga si Arum kay Ancajas nang personal itong mapanood nang magdepensa laban kay mandatory challenger Teiru Kinoshita na pinatulog ng Pinoy boxer sa 7th round noong Hulyo 1 sa Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn undercard sa Suncorp Stadium sa Brisbane, Australia.
“I had never seen him before and Sean Gibbons (who is a part of Ancajas’ brain trust) had brought him in and convinced everybody that he would perform well and he was on television both to the United States and Australia,” ayon kay Arum. “And he destroyed the Japanese fighter.”
“I’m very excited to be fighting in the U.S. because this gives me a big opportunity to be able to showcase my talent,” sabi ni Ancajas kahapon sa pre-fight media conference.
Kumpiyansa naman ang karibal niyang si Gonzalez na sinasabin kaestilo ng kababayang si dating four-division world titlist Juan Manuel Marquez.
May rekord si Ancajas na 28-1-1 na may 19 pagwawagi sa knockouts samantalang si Gonzalez ay may kartadang 21-1-0 na may walong panalo sa knockouts.
