IBF World Junior Bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (26-1-1, 17KO) put up a strong showing in his first title defense, securing a stoppage against Jose Alfredo Rodriguez (32-5, 19KO) in the main event of the Fifth CCTV Lunar New Year Cup at the Cotai Arena in Macau, Sunday evening.
The 25-year-old southpaw proved to be too much for his Mexican challenger. He dominated all but one of the seven rounds of their scheduled 12-round fight with his pin-point accuracy.
The lone round for Rodriguez was in the sixth where he landed a well-timed combination to the champion. But it was short-lived as Cavite City-resident quickly regained his composure and continued to dominate the fight which left Rodriguez with a swollen face.
During the interval entering the eighth round, the 27-year-old Mexican could not continue with the bout because of the lingering pain he felt in his right shoulder.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa panalo,” Ancajas told Tiebreaker Times. “Mas ramdam ko ang saya na naidepensa ko yung belt dahil ngayon po, parang nabigyan ako ng importansya tulad po ni sir Herme (Esguerra) at sir Manny (Pacquiao) na walang sawang sumuporta sa amin.”
“Iba yung saya. Masaya din po na nagchampion kami noong una po pero ngayon, mas na-feel ko po yung saya na naidepensa ko po yung titulo.”
Ancajas defeated McJoe Arroyo last September in Taguig City to win the crown.
In the co-main event, Carlos Takam (34-3-1) defeated Marcin Rekowski (17-5) to become the new IBF Intercontinental Heavyweight champion in dominant fashion.
The French heavyweight rocked his Polish counterpart in the fourth round with a straight right. He then followed it up with few more hard shots before finally knocking him out cold with a left uppercut.
Another Filipino who was also on the card, Rollen del Castillo (19-14-2) was not able to replicate Ancajas’ success, yielding to Jing Xiang (11-4-2) via unanimous decision.
