Comments Thread For: Takuma Inoue On Ancajas Title Defense: I'm In A Challenger State Of Mind

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Takuma Inoue will carry the same mindset that propelled him to his first title win. A dangerous defense awaits the reigning WBA bantamweight beltholder, who faces former IBF 115-pound titlist Jerwin Ancajas. The bout takes place on February 24 at the famed Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, where Inoue turned pro in December 2013 and now returns with a title in tow.
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[trippleupper]

Can Ancajas solve the Inoue puzzle?

[Elheath]

The fun trivia with Inoue brothers and Ancajas and Tapales...having been left out of the Chocolatito-party, Naoya was trying an one final attempt at unification in 115 and was hoping to fight Ancajas on 2017, but the fight fell through. Year prior in 2016, Takuma was in bantamweight and was scheduled to fight Tapales for the WBO belt, but withdrew due to fractured hand.

Fast forward 7 years and Naoya fought Tapales in 2023 and Takuma will fight Ancajas in 2024.

[Airborne]

If this guy is anywhere close to being as good as his brother then he takes it!

[famicommander]

Ancajas has been washed for years. He had several gift decision title defenses and then got his ass whooped twice by Martinez.

[trippleupper]

Ancajas has been washed for years. He had several gift decision title defenses and then got his ass whooped twice by Martinez.

Did you see Takuma's last fight?

[trippleupper]

If this guy is anywhere close to being as good as his brother then he takes it!

Probably not, but still pretty good -- is that enough?

[trippleupper]

The fun trivia with Inoue brothers and Ancajas and Tapales...having been left out of the Chocolatito-party, Naoya was trying an one final attempt at unification in 115 and was hoping to fight Ancajas on 2017, but the fight fell through. Year prior in 2016, Takuma was in bantamweight and was scheduled to fight Tapales for the WBO belt, but withdrew due to fractured hand.

Fast forward 7 years and Naoya fought Tapales in 2023 and Takuma will fight Ancajas in 2024.

Interesting facts!

How do you see the fight unfolding?

[edpboxing]

If this guy is anywhere close to being as good as his brother then he takes it!

Not even close to ad good as his brother, but a good fighter in his own right

[Elheath]

Interesting facts!

How do you see the fight unfolding?

I managed to get Ring Side front row ticket to this match for only 390 USD (gawd I love the current great dollar-yen rate) so I will be enjoying it all live, but to be blunt despite being named the main event I'm interested in the Nakatani-Santiago the most in terms of excitement followed by possibly the Tanaka-Bacasegua fight given that it could be the fastest four division champion in boxing record (albeit with a bit of an asterisk but still).

To say it nicely, Takuma is a fundamentally solid technical boxer with good handspeed and footwork, and since his loss to Oubaali his mindset has gotten better and he has defeated practically every Japanese rival he could face in bantam (excluding Nakatani who just came up and is doing his first match in bantam against Santiago), so you can say he is a good boxer. Saying it badly he is also a featherfisted and boring (to the general public audience) type of boxer who is destined to be underrated and unpopular forever due to being the brother of Naoya. He is like a poor man's Ioka, and even if he wins against Ancajas, he is also likely to lose if he were to ever attempt an unification with Rodriguez, Moloney or Nakatani (yes I am assuming he defeats Santiago next week).

Takuma didn't look very good against an old Solis in his last fight, and there is no way to tell if the injury caused any lingering effect physically or mentally, along with whether the delay caused any rust to him. That being said, Ancajas isn't exactly a superstar candidate especially at bantamweight either. He was a long time champ at 115 but didn't unify and fought relatively average/mediocre challengers until Martinez defeated him twice causing Ancajas to go up a division. Overall I expect Takuma-Ancajas to be something like a 60-40 fight that ends in a close decision for Takuma but won't be surprised either if Ancajas gets the decision. Of course I would be rooting for Takuma at the venue though.

I for one see myself being in the following mindset next week and my ticket worth breakdown hopefully:
$40 Drink- Masuda-Sultan. Bantamweight non-title match to quench my thirst while I wait for the main title matches to start. Hope Masuda can get back on a winning streak after his decision loss to Tsutsumi last year. A win against Sultan would likely put the prospect in the WBO rankings opening up a lot of chances so good luck to Riku.
$80 Appetizer- Tanaka-Bacasegua. Fighting for the 115 WBO belt vacated by Nakatani. Second time for Tanaka aiming to become the fastest four division champ in boxing. 3.5 years after his first attempt was thwarted by Ioka, he should be capable of winning with a wide decision at the minimum given his growth since then. A rematch with Ioka would be fun for Japan if he wins.
$200 Main dish- Nakatani-Santiago. WBC bantamweight title match and Nakatani debut at bantam. Give me the power and the action! I'd like that steak cooked at KO by Nakatani please, go get that third belt Junto and prove yourself as the true Japanese P4P champ (non-Naoya Inoue division)!
$70 Dessert- Takuma-Ancajas voluntary WBA defense. Ideally I am calming down from watching three consecutive Japanese winners, and in a relaxed mode ending with a decision win by Takuma so I can get home on a positive note.

...And I just realized that maybe I am excited about next week more than I thought given the amount I wrote.