How Jerwin Ancajas convinced his team to stay at super flyweight

Former IBF world super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas needed to have several conversations with his trainer and manager Joven Jimenez to convince him that he should keep fighting at 115 pounds.

Ancajas, 30, suffered a unanimous defeat at the hands of Argentinian Olympian Fernando Daniel Martinez last February in the 10th defense of his then world title. The team conceded that getting to 115 has been a struggle, but Ancajas ultimately decided to stay at super flyweight in the end.

"There were a lot of things running through my head at first like maybe it is time to move up. But I really want to get even, especially that I have a rematch [clause] and I want to show that I can handle Martinez," Ancajas said.

"If we can achieve good conditioning I think we can really beat Martinez. I also told coach Joven that I can still make 115 pounds. We learned a lot from the last fight and we will not make the same mistakes."

Ancajas (33-2-2, 22KOs) is known for putting on a lot of pounds between fights and would even go up to as much as 150 lbs. According to Jimenez, one of the things that the fighter has promised is that he would take better care of himself during breaks.

"He really wanted to fight and avenge his loss to Martinez. I asked how he can do that, he explained how he would cut weight early and not allow himself to bloat," Jimenez said.

"I will follow what he wants, but his skills really show up at 118 to 122 pounds. After several talks, he managed to convince me that he would take care of his weight."

—MGP, GMA News