Jerwin Ancajas successfully defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) world super-flyweight belt via a sixth-round stoppage of Jamie Conlan last Sunday at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A native of Panabo City, the 25-year-old Ancajas was in his most lethal form yet to score the lopsided victory to the disappointment of the home crowd.
In a brutal display of excellent body punching and patience, Ancajas showed no mercy from the opening bell as he dropped the 31-year-old Irish in the first round and went on to score three more knockdowns in the third and fourth rounds.
With the match obviously on the Filipino’s side and Colan’s face turning into a bloody mess after suffering a cut on his left eye in the second round, referee Steve Gray decided to stop the fight action in the 52-second mark of the sixth round. Ancajas improved his record to 28 wins—19 on knockouts—one loss and one draw. Colan, meanwhile, absorbed his first defeat in 20 fights.
Promoted by boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, it was Ancajas’s third title defense after snatching the crown from McJoe Arroyo last year. He had disposed Jose Alfredo Rodriguez in January and Teiru Kinoshita in Brisbane in July.
Ancajas is currently one of the three Filipino world champions—the others are IBF flyweight king Donnie Nietes and junior flyweight titleholder Milan Melindo.