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It’s official. IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas (31-1-2, 21 KOs) has been scheduled to defend his strap against Jonathan Rodriguez (21-1, 15 KOs) as to co-feature to the November 2nd card headlined by Miguel Berchelt vs. Jason Sosa. The card will be held in Carson, California and stream live on ESPN+.
“I am looking forward to this fight because Rodriguez brings the Mexican style to his fights, and Mexican and Filipinos make the best fights,” Ancajas said. “I want to thank Top Rank, (co-promoter) Senator Manny Pacquiao and my manager, Joven Jimenez, for their continued support. It is going to be a war, and to my Filipino fans, I look forward to putting on a show for you in Carson.”
Ancajas, 27, is most recently coming off a stoppage win over Ryuichi Funai this past May, which followed a split draw with Alejandro Santiago Barrios last September. Meanwhile Rodriguez, 24, hasn’t really fought anyone of note thus far. He’s coming off a stoppage win over Felipe Orucuta over the summer, but Ancajas will be the best fighter he’s ever faced, on paper.
“I plan on taking full advantage of this opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “Ancajas is a great champion, but my time is now. It is time for a new face at 115 pounds.”
Also featured on this Nov. 2nd card will be an 8-round contest between junior welterweights Alex Saucedo (28-1, 18 KOs) taking on Rod Salka (24-5, 4 KOs). Saucedo, 25, hasn’t fought since getting knocked out by Maurice Hooker around this time, last year. Likewise Salka, 36, also hasn’t fought since a stoppage loss to Francisco Vargas in early 2018.
Salka is probably best remembered for being in one of the greatest mismatches in recent years when he was fed to Danny Garcia in a ridiculous 2014 welterweight contest. Here at BLH that fight spawned an entirely new metric to rate mismatched fights, dubbed the ‘Salka scale.’ Ironically, by that measurement, this fight still isn’t even a ‘full Salka,’ but surely isn’t a great matchup nonetheless.
Let the good times roll.