Every time we pick up a paper or log onto a boxing site, all manner of articles allude to the huge money to be made when a world title goes up for grabs. According to both camps, the Mayweather - Pacquiao bout brought in five hundred million dollars, largely on the back of the four million, four hundred thousand households that subscribed to the fight. Of course that's a record. There are still others, and plenty of them, who earn millions per bout. But there are others who drink from an almost empty well. One such man is Jerwin Ancajas of the Philippines. Last night he stepped into the ring to challenge Puetro Rico's McJoe Arroyo, the holder of the IBF World Super Flyweight belt. And for his efforts, he received a paltry US$3,750.
Ancajas found himself holding the short end of the stick when the two parties couldn't come to a financial agreement. The IBF had ordered this bout after Arroyo had failed to make a defence in better than a year, but as the camps couldn't shake hands on an agreement, the powers that be ordered that the fight would have to go to a purse bid. The champion's team had hoped that Al Haymon would support the fight, as he'd done when Arroyo took the title in Texas, but Al went missing. This left the door open to Samson Lewkowicz who just happened to be working for Manny Pacquiao Promotions. One unopposed US$25,000 bid was all it took. All of a sudden McJoe Arroyo found himself having to defend his title in the challenger's back yard. As the IBF purse bid sees an 85-15 split in favour of the title holder, the challenger wound up with just enough to buy everybody a can of Coke. He didn't give a rat's arse though. As far as he was concerned, he had what it took to win the fight and open the door to future prospects. His opinion of himself was vindicated in spades. He shaded the first five rounds, then stunned the champ in the sixth, before dropping him in the seventh. McJoe Arroyo tried to pull it out if the fire in the closing rounds, but Jerwin Ancajas worked the jab and clinched when needed, and walked away with a well deserved win. The judges scored it 118-109, 117-110 and 115-112. Once others take their cut of that US$3,750, the new champ's pay will look pretty shabby, but somehow I don't think Jerwin Ancajas will care all that much this morning. It'll be hard to wipe that smile from his face. Good on him, he's now the new IBF World Super Flyweight Champion.
