Davao lost a world champion on Sunday after Panabo City native Jerwin Ancajas, who honed his skills in Davao del Norte and Davao City as an amateur, gave up his world superflyweight title to conqueror Fernando Martinez.
It was a bitter loss, only the second in a flourishing boxing career for the Dabawenyo fighter but it should not hinder his journey to greatness. He is touted as the heir apparent to another great fighter from Mindanao Manny Pacquiao and remains the best bet we have despite the loss last Sunday.
Ancajas has the contractual right to challenge recent conqueror Fernando Martinez again, but it looks like he won’t be doing so and will instead try his hand at bantamweight, where he hasn’t fought since 2015.
Ancajas is still young at 30 and should easily claw his way back to another world title shot.
He ran a string of nine title defenses over the past five years and that’s a solid proof that he is a great champion.
Ancajas has yet to hit paydirt unlike Pacquiao but he is getting there. This defeat is only a temporary setback which should serve as a reminder for him.
Pacquiao also once suffered the same bitter loss because of weight problems and has since bounced back beautifully after that with a lot of discipline than he once was.
The important thing is for Ancajas to rise back from this fall.
