Jerwin Juntilla Ancajas (born 1 January 1992) is a Filipino

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

junior-bantamweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from Asi ...

title from 2016 to 2022.

Personal life

Jerwin was born and raised in

Panabo Panabo, officially the City of Panabo ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Panabo; fil, Lungsod ng Panabo), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,230 people. Panabo ...

, a suburb of

Davao City, Philippines Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the Li ...

.Jerwin Ancajas: A Champion Emerges from the Shadows - The Grueling Truth
/ref> He was introduced to boxing in the second grade by his brother, Jesar. Jerwin would go on to win several national championships, including a gold medal at the

Palarong Pambansa The Palarong Pambansa (Filipino language, Filipino for "National Games") is an annual multi-sport event involving student-athletes from 17 regions of the Philippines. The event, started in 1948, is organized and governed by the Department of Ed ...

, before turning pro in 2009, at the age of 17. Jerwin Ancajas has a 90–5 record in the Amateur Boxing. Jerwin Ancajas currently lives in Brgy. Ramirez, Magallanes, Cavite together with his brother; Jesar Ancajas

Professional career

Ancajas made his professional debut in July 2009. He won his first major title; WBO Asia Pacific Youth junior-bantamweight title against Rex Tito scheduled in SM City Lipa. Jerwin Ancajas suffered a loss in his fifteenth pro bout, losing a

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

Mark Anthony Geraldo Mark Anthony Nipaya Geraldo (born 12 July 1991) is a Filipino professional boxer. He lost to Takuma Inoue for the OPBF super flyweight title. He has a loss to former world champion McJoe Arroyo and victories over world champion Jerwin Ancajas ...

. He became the

junior bantamweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council respond ...

champion when he defeated

McJoe Arroyo McJoe Arroyo Acevedo (born December 5, 1985) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who held the IBF junior bantamweight title from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur, he represented Puerto Rico in international competition, winning a bronze medal at t ...

on September 3, 2016. Ancajas earned just $3,750 for the fight. He entered the fight on an 11-fight win streak. Ancajas comfortably outboxed Arroyo, and dropped him in round 8 to win a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

. Ancajas made his first defense on January 29, 2017, beating

José Alfredo Rodríguez José Alfredo Rodríguez (born September 26, 1989) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBA light flyweight interim title from 2011 to 2012. He challenged for the WBA world title in 2012 and also the IBF super flyweight title in 2017. P ...

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

, after Rodríguez was unable to continue due to injury. Ancajas made a further defense in July 2017, on the undercard of

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...

Jeff Horn Jeffrey Christopher Horn Jr. (born 4 February 1988) is an Australian professional boxer who held the WBO welterweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur he represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals of the light ...

against

Teiru Kinoshita Teiru Kinoshita (born Park Tae-Il on December 17, 1985 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese-Korean boxer. Kinoshita is a former Japanese super flyweight champion. In 2014, he lost to Zolani Tete for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) supe ...

. Ancajas battered Kinoshita, opening a cut over his right eye and pummeling him to the body, before dropping him in round 7 with a right hook to the body. Kinoshita beat the count but the referee stopped the fight, giving Ancajas a TKO win. On November 18, 2017, Ancajas defeated

Jamie Conlan Jamie Conlan (born 10 October 1986) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 2009 to 2017, and has since worked as a boxing manager. He held the Commonwealth Boxing Council, Commonwealth super-flyweight title in 20 ...

with a round 6 TKO. Conlan was battered from the first round, going down after a body shot. He was dropped three more times until the referee stopped the fight. Ancajas was deducted a point in round 5 by referee Steve Gray, following a legitimate shot to Conlan's abdomen. With the win, Ancajas made his third successful title defense in 2017, all by technical knockout and in different countries. In December, it was announced that Ancajas had signed with

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

and would make his U.S. debut in February 2018, defending his title against Israel González in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

. On 3 February 2018, Ancajas would successfully defend his IBF belt in his US debut. In his next title defence, Ancajas faced IBF #1 ranked title contender Jonas Sultan. Ancajas won the fight comfortably, winning by a wide margin on all three scorecards, namely 119–109, 119-109 and 117–111. On 29 September 2018, Ancajas battled IBF #14 Alejandro Santiago Barrios. Barrios proved a tough opponent for the IBF champion, but could only fight to a draw as Ancajas was able to keep his belt. In his next fight, Ancajas fought #1 IBF contender Ryuichi Funai. Ancajas overmatched Funai for most of the fight, as Funai was able to take some of his best shots, but did not counter Ancajas with any of his own. Ancajas finished his opponent in round seven. On 7 December 2019, Ancajas had another successful title defence, this time against IBF #14 Miguel Gonzalez. Ancajas won via a sixth-round TKO. Ancajas was scheduled to make his ninth IBF title defense against Jonathan Javier Rodriguez on April 10, 2021. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 115-112, 116-111, and 117-110.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

''Major World Titles:'' *

junior bantamweight title ''(115 lbs)'' ''Minor Titles:'' *

Pan Pacific junior bantamweight title ''(115 lbs)'' *

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

Asia Pacific Youth junior bantamweight title ''(115 lbs)'' *Philippines Luzon Professional Boxing Association bantamweight title ''(118 lbs)''

References

External links