IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas’ next title defense appears to be taking place in the United States sometime in May.
According to Asian Boxing, citing reports from the Philippines, Ancajas will defend his title against mandatory challenger Ryuichi Funai on May 4 in Stockton, California. That fight would take place on the undercard of a planned Top Rank Boxing card on ESPN.
Ancajas has held the IBF title since defeating McJoe Arroyo back in September 2016. Since that win over Arroyo, Ancajas has defended his title six times with most of those title defense taking place on Top Rank-promoted events from around the world. Ancajas last title defense took place last September in at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, fighting Alejandro Santiago to a split draw.
Should the fight take place in California as stated in the report, it would be Ancajas' fourth straight title defense to take place in the United States. Ancajas has not lost a fight since losing to John Paul Bautista back in 2012.
Funai is on a seven-fight win streak and is currently the No. 1 super flyweight in the official IBF rankings. Funai, who has won the Japanese national and WBO Asia Pacific titles at 115 pounds, has not fought since a TKO victory over Victor Olivo at Korakuen Hall last November.
The main event of that May 4 Top Rank card is a title defense from IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. No opponent has been officially announced but a previous report stated that Beterbiev could be facing Radivoje Kalajdzic.
