Ancajas scores punishing TKO of Kinoshita to retain IBF title

BRISBANE, Australia – Jerwin Ancajas sliced and diced a bloody Teiru Kinoshita to score a technical knockout and retain his IBF junior bantamweight title in the co-featured bout of the Manny Pacquiao vs Jeff Horn card on Sunday, July 7.

The official time was 1:53 as Ancajas basked in the exposure of his biggest stage to date at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.

Ancajas (27-1-1, 18 knockouts) of Panabo City, Philippines finished Kinoshita (25-2-1, 8 KOs) of Kobe, Japan with a right hook to the body. Kinoshita, who had never been stopped before in his pro career, rose up at the count of 6 but referee Ignatius Missailidis waved off the bout.

Ancajas opened a cut on Kinoshita’s right eye in the second round from an overhand left by Ancajas. The referee brought in the doctor to examine the cut, but the fight was allowed to continue. The wound became a target which Ancajas hit routinely, and by the fourth round the eye was nearly completely shut.

Kinoshita made a brave stand in the fifth, backing up Ancajas and landing a left hand cleanly but wasn’t able to do more than mildly inconvenience the champion.

Ancajas won the title last September with a unanimous decision over McJoe Arroyo and defended the title for the first time in January with a TKO of Jose Alfredo Rodriguez in Macau.

Ancajas made just $3,750 for his title victory over Arroyo but made a career-high $60,000 for this fight.

Walking out covered in the Philippine flag to the sounds of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” Ancajas wore a sheepish smile as the Filipino fans cheered him on wildly. His two previous fights were not televised in the Philippines. 

Earlier in the day, 2016 Irish Olympian Michael Conlan stretched his record to 3-0 (3 KOs) with a third round stoppage of local fighter Jarrett Owen (5-5-3, 2 KOs) at the 1:56 mark. Conlan, whose middle finger protest of the judging at the 2016 Games made him a viral star, broke down Owen to the body before the referee stopped the fight.

Shane Mosley Jr (10-2, 7 KOs) of Pomona, California suffered his second defeat as he dropped a split-decision to Canberra, Australia’s David Toussaint (11-0, 8 KOs) in an 8-round middleweight fight. Mosley Jr is the son of legendary boxer Shane Mosley.

Pacquiao’s cousin Jonel Dapidran (8-2, 4 KOs) opened the card by losing a unanimuous decision to Australian boxer Brent Dames (6-3, 0 KOs). – Rappler.com