After weeks of speculation, the date of the fight between International Boxing Federation (IBF) superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas and mandatory challenger and fellow countryman Jonas Sultan has been finalized.
Ancajas and Sultan will be the main event of a boxing card in Las Vegas on May 26, Ancajas's trainer Joven Jimenez told ESPN5. Ancajas advisor Sean Gibbons told ESPN's Dan Rafael on Monday night that the fight was made, and Top Rank, which promotes Ancajas, confirmed that the bout was set. The fight is likely to take place in Las Vegas, with The Cosmopolitan a possible location, Gibbons said.
The all-Filipino showdown was initially part of the undercard of the fight between Jeff Horn and Terrence Crawford scheduled April 14, but the entire card got postponed after the latter suffered a right-hand injury during one of his training sessions.
The Horn and Crawford clash was rescheduled to June 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but Top Rank chief Bob Arum decided to have the Ancajas-Sultan fight as the headliner for a different date. There were also talks of having Ancajas and Sultan fight in either Los Angeles or San Francisco, both areas which have large Filipino communities, but Arum ultimately chose to have Las Vegas as the venue.
It will be the fifth time Ancajas (29-1-1, 20 KOs), who is coming off a 10th round technical knockout win over Israel Gonzalez in February in Texas, will defend his belt.
Based on his deal with Top Rank, Ancajas will enter the ring two more times after boxing Sultan before the year ends. The May 26 fight date, matchmaker Sean Gibbons said earlier, won't affect the schedule of those fights for the remainder of 2018.
"Yes [we will] come back September and finish the year in December. But again the main thing is how he comes out of the Jonas fight will dictate the rest or the year," Gibbons, who co-promotes Ancajas, explained.
After the Sultan bout, Ancajas and his camp will reportedly fly to Italy to attend IBF's annual convention where he will be presented with a champion ring.
Ancajas and Sultan (14-3, 9 KOs) are currently preparing for their upcoming clash, which will be the first title bout between two Filipinos since 1925 when Pancho Villa defeated Clever Sencio via unanimous decision for the world flyweight title in Manila.
"This fight is great for the both of us. This is Philippine boxing history in the making, Filipino versus Filipino," Ancajas said in a previous interview. "For us both, either win or lose, we both will come out as winners."
Sultan shared the same sentiments of his opponent.
"This is a good opportunity to promote Philippine boxing in the U.S. After the fight one of us will win and the other will lose, but Philippine boxing will be the big winner if we give a good show," he said.
ESPN5's Renz Ongkiko contributed to this report.