By Jake Donovan

Jerwin Ancajas entered his seventh title defense with every intention of improving on his dismal showing in his last outing.

The defending super flyweight titlist accomplished that goal and then some, power punching his way to a 7th stoppage of Ryuichi Funai in their ESPN-televised bout Saturday evening at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

Six rounds of punishment absorbed by Japan’s Funai was enough for the ringside physician, whom ordered the referee to stop the contest at 0:01 of round seven.

Ancajas (31-1-2, 21KOs) looked remarkably better than in his 12-round draw with Alejandro Santiago in his prior ring appearance last September in Fresno, Calif. In Funai (31-8), he found a much more favorable style matchup.

“This is the fight I owed to all of my fans back home in the Philippines,” Ancajas told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna after the bout.

Funai was game, finding modest success with his straight right hand in the opening round. Ancajas quickly adjusted, dialing in with his right hook which landed with alarming regularity as the bout progressed.

The closest either boxer came to hitting the deck came in round four, when Funai teetered on defenseless but somehow remained upright from an onslaught of power punches. Ancajas landed 48 punches in the round, most of them in the form of right hooks and straight lefts and all thrown with knockout intentions by the Filipino southpaw.

That he somehow avoided the canvas is a testament to Funai’s fighting heart. His face showed the heavy price he paid as Ancajas busted him up, which didn’t go unnoticed by the California State Athletic Commission officials in house. The ringside physician asked for time to visit Funai prior to the start of round five, alerting his corner than the fight needed to take a drastic turn if she were to allow it to continue any further.

It only grew worse for the visiting challenger, who fought outside of Japan and for a major title for the first time in his career.

Ancajas had stoppage on his mind all the way, throwing every punch with the intention of putting Funai flat on his back or at least rendering him unfit to continue. The long-reigning titlist unloaded in rounds five and six until the fight was finally stopped after the ringside physician once again gave Funai a long hard look at the start of round seven.

“I was surprised, but with the fighting heart of the Japanese boxers, you can never say never,” acknowledged Ancajas, who has reigned as a 115-pound titlist since a decision win over McJoe Arroyo in Sept. ’16.

Seven defenses have followed, including his first four by stoppage before being extended the 12-round distance in each of his last two starts. Ancajas was foced to settle for a landslide decision over countryman Jonas Sultan last May in Oakland, Calif. although in retrospect a performance for which he’ll gladly settle following his dismal showing last September in Fresno.

Saturday’s performance ultimately removed the bad taste from Ancajas’ mouth, as he reminded boxing fans why he very much belongs near the top of the heap in a loaded super flyweight division.

The bout served as the ESPN-televised opener to Artur Beterbiev’s light heavyweight title defense versus Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic. 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox