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By Chris Williams: IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (31-1-2, 21 KOs) will be defending his title for the eighth time against #10 WBA fringe contender Jonathan Rodriguez (21-1, 15 KOs) on November 2, according to @BarbosaBox.  It’s unclear why the 27-year-old Ancajas is taking another soft defense rather than clear up the controversy surrounding his 12 round draw against challenger Alejandro Santiago Barrios (20-2-5, 10 KOs) last September in Oakland, California.

Up until recently, there were a lot of boxing fans excited about the career of Ancajas. That’s all changed since his questionable draw against Barrios. Ancajas looked terrible in that fight, and made things worse by not giving Barrios a rematch. He should have the Mexican talent again immediately to show the boxing public that it was just an off night last September for him. Regrettably, Ancajas has gone in the other direction in taking on soft opposition.

Ancajas not stepping it up after his draw against Barrios

A lot of boxing fans felt that Barrios had done enough to deserve the victory in the fight. The judges scored it 116-112 for Ancajas, 118-111 for Barrios and 114-114. Boxing News 24 scored it for Barrios by a 118-111 margin. He dominated the fight pretty well throughout, and made Ancajas look bad. Rather than take the rematch, Ancajas fought fringe Ryuichi Funai (31-8, 22 KOs) in stopping him in the 6th round last May in Stockton, California.

Jerwin Ancanjas Vs. Jonathan “Titan” Rodriguez

Up next for the IBF 115

Looking like Nov 2nd

— @BarbosaBox (@BarbosaBox) September 7, 2019

Jonathan Rodriguez with weak resume

Ancajas’ promoters at Top Rank need to start matching him against better opposition, because it’s starting to look like they’re trying to steer him away from the talented opposition at 115. Ancajas’ opponent for November 2, Rodriguez, 24, has only one notable name on his record in journeyman Felipe Orucuta (36-6, 30 KOs).

The rest of the names on Rodriguez’s resume are obscure journeyman or prospects of little talent. Even Orucuta is nothing special. He has past losses to Juan Francisco Estrada, Jose Cayetano, and Omar Andres Narvaez x 2. Rodriguez’s best wins have come against this bunch:

• Felipe Orucuta
• Juan Alberto Castro (16-13-6)
• Alejandro Perez (10-4-1)
• Eduardo Garcia (14-9)

Rodriguez has literally fought no one remotely talented enough for him to be getting a world title shot against Ancajas. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of boxing fans believe that he’s milking his title.

Is this as good as it gets for Ancajas? 

If this is the way that Top Rank is going to be matching Ancajas the remainder of his career, you have to wonder if he were better off if he were fighting on DAZN. At least they would look to steer him into some unification fights against the likes of WBC champ Juan Francisco Estrada or WBA champion Khalid Yafai. Those are the fights that Ancajas needs to be involved in for him to become a star in boxing. A couple of years ago, Ancajas was being compared to Manny Pacquiao, and a lot of fans saw him as a future star. Ancajas’s recent performance against Barrios has cooled down the interest in his career. Top Rank could revived the interest if they had put Ancajas back in the Barrios, but they’ve failed to do that