By Chris Williams: Bob Arum says he’s signed IBF World super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (28-1-1, 19 KOs) to a 3-fight deal with his Top Rank company, and he plans on making a star out of the hard hitting Filipino. If Ancajas, 25, wins his 3 fights in 2018, Arum says he’ll sign him up to another 3-fight deal in 2019. Arum believes he can make a big name out of Ancajas if he keeps winning the way he’s been doing.
Ancajas looked superb in his last fight in stopping Jamie Conlan in the 6th round on November 18 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ancajas knocked Conlan to the canvas 4 times in the fight before the match was stopped in round 6.
“We signed him up for three fights in 2018, and if he does well, we will sign him up again for another three (in 2019),”said Arum to the mb.com.ph. “We are going to make him a star,” Arum said.
Ancajas has the talent to be a big name in the sport. However, Ancajas will need to prove that he can beat the best in the 115 lb. division.
Ancajas will need to beat these fighters to become the star Arum wants him to be:
• Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
• Juan Francisco Estrada
• Carlos Cuadras
• Naoya Inoue
• Khalid Yafai
• Roman Gonzalez
• Rau’Shee Warren
I hope Arum can put fights together involving those guys and Ancajas. Those are very good fighters that Ancajas will need to beat for him to become the star that Arum wants him to be. Rungvisai, Estrada and Inoue are looking very good right now. Those guys won’t be easy to beat. Even Yafai would be hard opponent for Ancajas to beat. Roman Gonzalez is a real threat to Ancajas as well. Gonzalez is coming off of 2 consecutive losses to Rungvisai, but that was against a very good fighter with a lot of power. Ancajas might have problems against Gonzalez if that fight gets made in the future.
Arum is going to need to be able to match Ancajas against fighters outside of his Top Rank stable for him to become a star. This isn’t a situation where Arum will be able to turn Ancajas into a big name by only having him fight opposition signed to Top Rank. Arum has to be able to work with other promoters to match Ancajas with their fighters so that he can increase his popularity. The above mentioned super flyweights aren’t signed with Top Rank, so Arum will need to reach out to their promoters for him to match Ancajas against them. One thing is for sure though. Ancajas is not going to become a star if all he’s just going to be matched against obscure fringe contenders for the next few years.
Ancajas’ first fight of his 3-fight contract with Arum will be against #10 IBF Israel Gonzalez (21-1, 8 KOs) on February 3 at the Bank of America Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ancajas-Gonzalez will be the co-feature bout on the Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez vs. Habib Ahmed card. It’ll be televised on ESPN in the United States. Ramirez will be defending his WBO super middleweight title in a voluntary defense against the little known Ahmed. That’s not a good fight for Ramirez. He’s not going to be transformed into a star with a fight like that, and neither is Ancajas in being matched a fringe contender.