Former lower-weight titlists Ryosuke Nishida and Jerwin Ancajas are on the cusp of a super bantamweight title fight, as Lance Pugmire reports that the IBF has ordered them to meet in a final eliminator.
Nishida (10-1, 2 KO) upset Emmanuel Rodriguez for the bantamweight belt in May of last year, spent the next seven months cooling his heels and letting his face return to an approximately human shape, then ran over Anuchai Donsua in his inaugural defense. Initially slated to face mandatory challenger
Jose Salas, he instead signed on to battle WBC champ Junto Nakatani, giving the pound-for-pound stalwart a tough out before his face once again attempted to show off its Akira cosplay.
This will mark his first appearance above 118 since beating Shohei Omori in his third pro fight way back in 2020.
Ancajas (37-4-2, 24 KO) saw a long reign as IBF super flyweight champion come to an end in a pair of bangers against Fernando Martinez, then an attempted bantamweight title bid fall short against Takuma Inoue two Februarys ago. He’s done basically nothing at 122 to merit a title shot, but the IBF has never let anything as menial as rationality slow them down.
Naoya Inoue, who currently holds the belt, has been transparent about his plans to fight Alan Picasso in December before duking it out with Nakatani next year and subsequently moving to 126. I’m curious as to whether this will morph into some sort of a title fight by the time Nishida and Ancajas enter the ring.
