Argentine Ferdinand Puma Martínez, super flyweight champion of the International Boxing Federation, will give rematch tonight to Filipino Jerwin Ancajas, former owner of that title, in a match that will be played at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, and this will mean his first. defense of the crown The evening can be watched through ESPN 2 from 11pm.
Martínez dethroned the Filipino in a big fight held in Las Vegas on February 26, which rewarded the Buenos Aires native’s formidable performance with cards of 118-110 (two) and 117-111. In principle, Ancajas would have moved up into the bantamweight category, but ultimately decided to enforce the automatic rematch clause included in the contract for the first duel.
Martínez, the only Argentine world champion after Brian Castaño’s defeat to Jermell Charlo in May, arrives at this match in excellent condition, the result of a long preparation, which included the signing of two foreign sparring partners and, according to the his coach Rodrigo Calabrese, with “a plan A, a plan B and even a plan C for a fight that will be very tough”.
Martínez, in a press conference held at the headquarters of the Boca Volunteer Firefighters (he is a well-known supporter of xeneize and dreams of fighting in La Bombonera), acknowledged that “Ancajas is a great boxer and surely this second fight will be just as strong as he wants. the title which is now mine and will have to do much more than what happened in the first meeting “.
In this context, the boxer born in La Boca and resident in Avellaneda arrived last Monday in Carson together with the Calabrian; Dr. Walter Quintero; his manager, former world champion Marcos Maidana; and Martino Sink Gómez Maidana, matchmaker for Chino Maidana Promotions, the company that manages his career.
For Martínez, what he won in Las Vegas was a pivotal battle in his career and it will be even more so this Saturday as, if he wins the rematch, his name will start ringing strong to take on 115-pound figures like The Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada, the Nicaraguan Roman Chocolate González, the Japanese Kazuto Ioka or the Texan Jesse bam Rodriguez.
Martínez, 31 years old and Olympic representative in Rio de Janeiro 2016, jumped to professionalism in 2017 and built a track record of 14 wins (8 before the limit) with no draws or losses, with wins in the South African quadrilaterals (he won the title of ‘silver WBC super moscow) and Dubai before his big night in Las Vegas.
Ancajas, born 30 years ago in Panabo City, is a formidable rival. The Filipino southpaw lost to Martinez after a ten-year campaign without defeat and with 9 successful defenses.
According to his coach, Joven Jiménez, Ancajas was out of practice and had problems with the scales: “Before weighing he spent two hours in the sauna to give the category. He had to lose almost two kilos.”
And for his manager, Sean Gibbons, who thanks to Manny Pacquiao is the strongman of Filipino boxing, this time the story will be different: “If Jerwin manages to enter the category well, I have no doubt that this time he will win”.
Ancajas made his professional debut at the age of 17 after an amateur campaign with 85 wins and 5 losses, and as a professional he has a formidable record of 32 wins (22 before the limit), 2 losses and 2 draws.
On the same card, American star Sebastián Fundora (19-0-1, 13 knockouts) will defend his interim World Boxing Council super welterweight title against Mexican Carlos Ocampo (34-1-0, 22 knockout) and Dominican Carlos Adames (21-1-0, 16 ko) will face Mexican Juan Macías Montiel (23-5-2, 23 ko) for the interim middleweight title of the same organization.
Source: Clarin
