Jerwin Ancajas vs Israel Gonzalez Preview & Prediction

Ancajas makes ESPN debut Saturday


The super flyweight division is one of the very best in boxing — I’d argue better and more interesting than most of the other 16 divisions — and now it comes to ESPN this weekend. New Top Rank signee Jerwin Ancajas (28-1-1, 19 KO) defending his IBF title against Israel Gonzalez (21-1, 8 KO) on the undercard of Super Middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez.

Ancajas is coming off of an absolutely dominant TKO-6 win over Jamie Conlan in November, and before that wiped out Teiru Kinoshita on the Pacquiao-Horn undercard. On paper, it’s a showcase for Ancajas, but hopefully we get some excitement out of it, and Ancajas is not a boring fighter.

Gonzalez is currently ranked number 10 by the IBF and this will be his first shot at a title of any type. He has never fought at this level. His best opposition is perhaps Ramon Hirales or Yonathan Padilla.

My prediction: Ancajas is simply too big of a step up in competition for Gonzalez. Ancajas by mid round stoppage.

By: Chris Henderson