Jerwin Ancajas will have to close out 2019 sitting on the sidelines after his scheduled IBF super flyweight title defense was canceled.
The Filipino world champion was originally supposed to fight Jonathan Rodriguez on the November 2 Top Rank card from Carson, California, but the fight was called off after Rodriguez had trouble securing a visa.
This would have been Ancajas' second title defense this year after successfully retaining his belt against Ryuichi Funai in May. Ancajas has held the IBF super flyweight title since 2016, making seven title defenses.
As for the remainder of the card, the show will move on as forward with the main event (Miguel Berchelt vs. Jason Sosa for the WBC super featherweight title) still planned. A new co-main event has been announced with junior welterweight contenders Javier Molina and Hiroki Okada having their fight being elevated from the ESPN+ undercard to the ESPN main card. Both the main and co-main event will be televised on ESPN starting at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Below is the current lineup for the November 2 Top Rank on ESPN card:
Main card (10:30 p.m. ET/ESPN):
- Miguel Berchelt vs. Jason Sosa: WBC super featherweight title
- Javier Molina vs. Hiroki Okada
Undercard (6:30 p.m. ET/ESPN+):
- Alex Saucedo vs. Rod Salka
- Daniel Lewis vs. Alexis Gaytan
- Gor Yeritsyan vs. Shoki Sakai
- Raymond Muratalla vs. Arnulfo Becerra
- Ruben Rodriguez vs. Abram Martinez
- Elvis Rodriguez vs. Luis Norambuena
Berchelt has held the WBC title since 2017 when he stopped Francisco Vargas in the 11th round. After beating Vargas, Berchelt would go on to win five straight, including a win over Vargas in a rematch back on May 11. Sosa, who once held the WBA super featherweight title, has won three straight after suffering consecutive losses to Vasiliy Lomachenko and Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2017.
