By Jim Dower: IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (28-1-1, 19 KOs) put in a body punching clinic on Saturday night in dropping the hapless Jamie Conlan (19-1, 11 KOs) 4 times en route to stopping him in the 6th round at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The end of the massacre came in round 6 when the 25-year-old Ancajas knocked the 31-year-old Conlan down with a right hook to the head. The official time of the stoppage by referee Steve Gray was at 0:52 of round 6.
The referee failed to see that the punch from Ancajas hit Conlan on the back of the head, but it really didn’t matter. Conlan was so hopelessly over-matched in the fight that he wasn’t going to last much longer even if the referee did let the fight continue a little longer. The referee could have taken a point away from the southpaw Ancajas for the rabbit punch, but he still would have likely knocked Conlan out.
After dropping Conlan in rounds 1, 3 and 4, Ancajas fought like he was in no hurry to finish the Irish fighter off. It reminded me of how a cat sometimes plays around with it a toy. It wasn’t even sporting. Conlan was so out of his league in the fight that he stood no chance of winning.
In round 1, Conlan hit the deck in delayed reaction late in the round after getting hit with a right to the head. It’s unclear if that’s the punch that hurt the 31-year-old Conlan or not, because that was the last shot that connected before he went down to all fours. The punch before that was a left to the midsection, which Conlan appeared to take without any problems.
In the 3rd round, Ancajas hurt Conlan with a right to the body. The Filipino knockout artist then continued to blast away at Conlan’s body until he went down. Moments before that, Conlan had backed up against the ropes and he was taking withering fire from Ancajas. The body shots that Ancajas was landing had Conland doubled over and looking in bad shape.
It was no surprise that he eventually went down, because he was getting hammered by Ancajas. If Conlan hadn’t gone down, he would have put the referee in a position where he would have needed to stop the fight. You can argue that some referees would have halted the fight if they saw how defenseless Conlan when he was trapped against the ropes taking hard body shots one after another.
Conlan deserves a lot of credit for making It out of round 3 without getting stopped. When Conlan got back to his feet after the knockdown, he was assaulted with another storm of body shots from Ancajas. Conlan just barely made it out of the round. As the round ended, Conlan looked at the crowd, and he took a big gulp of air to let the boxing fans know that he had been really worked over in the round.
In round 4, Conlan was dropped again by a hard body shot from Ancajas. The fight had become almost comical at this point. Conlan did not belong inside the ring with Ancajas, and he needed someone to step and save him from taking needless punishment. Conlan’s corner didn’t to stop it, but they should have, because he was just a punching bag by that point in the fight.
Ancajas had a point deducted in round 5 for landing a beltline shot. It looked like a legal punch, but the referee felt it was low. It didn’t matter. The referee could have taken points away from Ancajas all night and it wasn’t going to save Conlan from his fate. He did not have the talent to be inside the ring with Ancajas. If Conlan had fought someone good in the past, he likely would have been beaten and weeded out well before he ever got a world title shot. Conlan’s management matched him against a soft opposition, and he was able to compile a perfect 19-0 record to get the title shot against Ancajas.
You’d like to see Conlan, 31, fight some good opposition before he’s given another title shot.
Conlan was a huge underdog going into tonight’s fight. He had a puncher’s chance of winning, but it didn’t work out well for him. Ancajas, who reminded me of a young Manny Pacquiao in some ways, was too skilled and powerful for Conlan.
Conlan has wanted to fight for a world title since he turned pro. It’s unfortunate that it had to end this way for him. He looked like unprepared for the type of offensive arsenal that Ancajas had going for him in the fight. Conlan could have done some things before. He probably should have boxed more and slugged less. Further, Conlan’s decision to retreat to the ropes on a number of occasions led to him taking needless punishment.