Jerwin Ancajas sets up WBA bantamweight title clash with Takuma Inoue

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino boxing superstar Jerwin Ancajas just got another shot for a world title after Top Rank announced his upcoming fight against Takuma Inoue on November 15, 2023, to be held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

Ancajas will look to snatch Inoue’s World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight belt and extend his winning streak since his super bantamweight debut fight against Colombian foe Wilner Soto last June 25, 2023.

Takuma is the brother of Naoya “Monster” Inoue, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and the current World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight king.

This is a crucial and must-win fight for the Filipino slugger after losing his International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior bantamweight title to Fernando Martinez last year to get back on track and regain his winning ways.

At first, many thought that Ancajas’ decision to move up weight would affect his speed and power but his fight against Soto proved the doubters wrong.

Ancajas looked comfortable with his ring movement and even displayed better head movement and footwork to evade most of Soto’s attacks.

With his recent win, Ancajas improved his pro record to 34 wins, 23 knockouts, and three losses. Meanwhile, Inoue only tasted defeat once since 2013 and is seeking to extend his winning streak to six  straight victories.

This will be an interesting style clash as Ancajas is known to pressure his opponents while throwing volume punches.

On the other hand, Inoue is a more technical fighter who relies on his counter-punching, waiting for his opponents to drop their guard and send in that one big punch.

Will Ancajas finally reclaim a world title belt or will the Japanese pug fend off the Filipino’s dream of closing his year with a bang?