Ancajas to defend super flyweight belt against unbeaten Argentinian

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

There will be a major change of plan for the Jerwin Ancajas camp after their supposed unification world title showdown against Kazuto Ioka of Japan fell apart.

Ancajas, the current IBF super flyweight champion, and Ioka, the WBO title-holder, initially had the fight schedule set on New Year’s Eve in Tokyo but the added restrictions by the Japanese government due to the rising cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant made it hard to materialize.

Instead of settling and waiting for Ioka, Ancajas and the MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions decided to take on the undefeated Fernando Daniel Martinez of Argentina.

MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons already confirmed the fight in February and will be held in the United States.

Martinez, although undefeated, only participated in 13 fights with eight wins coming via way of knockout.

Despite the experience advantage Ancajas enjoys against Martinez, having a stellar record of 33 wins, one loss, and two draws, head trainer Joven Jimenez said Martinez is still a dangerous fighter.

The hard-hitting Argentinian is notable for his heavy right hand as evidenced by his eight knocked-out opponents in his professional career and Jimenez is taking that into consideration.

Ancajas is already listed as the odds on favorite to win the fight that will setup the highly-anticipated unification bout against Ioka after.