Jerwin Ancajas’ debut with Premier Boxing Champions has been scheduled.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the Filipino southpaw will defend his IBF junior bantamweight championship against Jonathan Javier Rodriguez on April 10 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Showtime will televise Ancajas-Rodriguez as the opener of a tripleheader that’ll feature welterweights Jaron Ennis and Sergey Lipinets in the main event at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Mexico’s Rodriguez (22-1, 16 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for Anjacas’ IBF 115-pound crown. Rodriguez, 25, is ranked third by the IBF, but the top two spots in that New Jersey-based sanctioning organization’s junior bantamweight rankings are vacant.
Ancajas (32-1-2, 22 KOs) has not fought since he stopped Chile’s Miguel Gonzalez (31-3, 8 KOs) in the sixth round of their scheduled 12-rounder in December 2019 in Puebla, Mexico.
Gonzalez was ranked 14th by the IBF at that time. Ancajas’ mandatory defense has been due since February 2020, which is why Ancajas must face Rodriguez next.
Ancajas, 29, amicably finalized a separation agreement with his former promoter, Top Rank Inc., early this year. The termination of a contract extension Ancajas signed with Bob Arum’s company in 2020 enabled him to fight for Al Haymon’s PBC, which has television deals with Showtime and FOX.
Ancajas is 19-0-1, including 17 knockouts, since suffering his only loss – a 10-round majority decision to fellow Filipino Mark Anthony Geraldo (then 24-5-3) in March 2012 in Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines. Three fights ago, though, Ancajas settled for a 12-round split draw with Mexico’s Alejandro Barrios (then 16-2-4) in September 2018 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
Rodriguez has won six straight bouts since Jose Estrada Garcia (then 5-2-1) defeated him by split decision in a 10-rounder in March 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico.
The Ancajas-Rodriguez fight will immediately precede Showtime’s 12-round WBA welterweight elimination match between Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (12-0, 9 KOs) and Thomas Dulorme (25-4-1, 16 KOs), a veteran contender from Puerto Rico. Philadelphia’s Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs, 1 NC) and Kazakhstan’s Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs) will headline this three-bout broadcast in what is expected to be a 12-round WBO welterweight eliminator.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.