DONE with his successful defense of his world title, Jerwin “The Pretty Boy” Ancajas will embark on his next mission: help Eumir Felix Marcial win a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
“Our plan is to continuously help Eumir’s Olympic preparation,” Ancajas, 29, told BusinessMirror through overseas call from New York City on Monday. “Our support for Eumir is huge because he will be fighting for the pride of our country.”
Ancajas retained his International Boxing Federation super flyweight title after beating Mexican Jonathan Javier Rodriguez via unanimous decision last Sunday in Connecticut. It was his ninth defense of the belt and his first fight in 16 months.
Ancajas said that he, his trainer and manager Joven Jimenez and sparring partner Jonas Sultan will fully concentrate on Marcial’s preparation for the Olympics that are set from July 23 to August 8.
Marcial and Ancajas’s team have been training together at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California, since October last year. They are also living together in a rented apartment also in Los Angeles.
Ancajas said Marcial’s improved skills would definitely help him win the country’s first Olympic gold.
“His training under Freddie Roach and his solid sparring experiences with different foreign boxers are benefitting Eumir very well,” Ancajas said.
Besides Roach, Marcial is also under the care of strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
“I believe in Eumir and I trust him to win an Olympic. He is very determined to do that,” he said.
“It’s really up with Eumir. We’re just here for him.”
Jimenez said that they are delaying plans to return home because of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Marcial also intends to join fellow Tokyo qualifiers Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno and several other national boxers in the Asian Boxing Championships set from May 21 to 31 in New Delhi, India.
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