ANCAJAS, MARCIAL BOUND FOR TRAINING IN THE US

By Sharma Devaiah

Months of waiting for their United States visas to be granted, International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas together with his coach and manager, Joven Jimenez together with 3-time South East Asian Games gold medalist Eumir Marcial will finally fly to the US tomorrow, September 30 for an unspecified time in preparation for their yet to be scheduled fights.

In an online media presentation by Big Boss Cement, Manny Pacquiao Promotions President Sean Gibbons confirmed he will be personally hosting Team Ancajas and Eumir Marcial upon their arrival at Los Angeles.

“Of course, we’ll be training at Wild Card gym, under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, especially for Eumir as he is also preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, then we’ll jump around gyms,” said Gibbons. He likewise said that MP Promotions has all their eyes on Marcial’s vie for an Olympic gold medal, as well as his training for his professional debut fight.

Eumir Marcial has just signed with MP Promotions in July of this year, to begin with, his professional boxing career, though he pledged to continue his amateur boxing fights with the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines. Gibbons stressed that Marcial going to the US is a big key for the realization of a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics which re-scheduled next year as Marcial will be trained by Freddie Roach himself and that Marcial will have the opportunity to spar and fight with guys his size.

“Thankful ako sa MP Promotions sa opportunity, excited din ako kasi doon mas madami ako makakalaro at makaka-sparring na ka-size ko, hindi gaya dito kaunti lang malalaki talaga kaya hindi 100% bigay sa sparring ba” averred Marcial. “Payag naman ang ABAP sa training ko sa US kasi hindi pa rin naman kami bumabalik sa official training ng team dahil sa pandemic, sa online din kami nagkakasama although tinutulungan ako ng pinsan ko na former National Team din sa ensayo ko bago itong lipad sa US, Malaki maitutulong nito sa pangarap nating gold medal sa Olympics” he further added.

Meanwhile, Jerwin Ancajas is looking to fight in a November or December card as he stayed ready despite experiencing the longest hiatus in his pro-boxing career as Ancajas is known to fight at least three fights in one year.

“Hindi kami nagpabaya sa ensayo, conditioning, lahat e nasa ayos naman kahit hindi pa naming sigurado yung schedule ng laban. Tutok kami sa intensity at volume ng aming training camp” stated coach Joven.
Team Ancajas also revealed they are open for Jerwin to move up one weight difference at 118lbs if offers permit, but as of the moment, they are looking for his 10th defense in the 115lbs division or into a unification title before moving up in weight.

Both fighters express their gratitude to every support they get especially that sports came to halt due to the pandemic.

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