Jerwin Ancajas gets back on track, title fight could be next

June 25, 2023 Times Europe

The Philippines’ Jerwin Ancajas following a fifth-round stoppage over Colombia’s Wilner Soto in their super bantamweight bout. Photo from Showtime Boxing

MANILA, Philippines—Jerwin Ancajas regained his winning ways in dominant fashion on Sunday (Manila time).

Fighting at super bantamweight for the first time, Ancajas outclassed Colombian journeyman Wilner Soto en route to a fifth-round stoppage at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Ancajas showed why he’s a former world champion, unloading vicious body shots to finish off Soto at the 2:41 mark of the fifth.

The 31-year-old Ancajas (34-3-2, 23KOs) stamped his class early and scored a knockdown in the fourth round. Ancajas handed Soto (22-13, 12KOs) his seventh consecutive setback.

.@JerwinAncajas gets it done with a dominant round-5 TKO 👏

Tune in to the #AdamesWilliams prelims now: https://t.co/NGaidRnFAY @lthomasnews @BCampbell pic.twitter.com/LbuVAFCuVu

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 24, 2023

A title fight against WBA bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (18-1, 4KOs) could be next for Ancajas, who will need to slide down to 118 pounds to challenge the younger brother of one of the top pound-for-pound fighters today in Naoya Inoue.

Ancajas bounced back after two straight losses to Argentina’s Fernando Martinez, who ended his six-year reign as IBF super flyweight champion in February 2022.

Martinez beat Ancajas again in their rematch eight months later before successfully defending the title against another Filipino in Jade Bornea on Sunday via 11th-round TKO.