Fernando Martinez Stunned IBF Champ Jerwin Ancajas Saturday

A shocking world title upset kicked off the Premier Boxing Champions/Showtime Boxing card in Las Vegas Saturday night. This, as little known Fernando Martinez of Argentina unseated the long time IBF Super Flyweight champ, Jerwin Ancajas of the Phillipines in a tremendous 12 round performance.

The scores were 118-110 on two cards and 117-111 on the third showing the domination by the Argentinian.

#AncajasMartinez throwing punches in bunches 👊🏽#ColbertGarcia pic.twitter.com/wmfVJiBJ03

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) February 27, 2022

Ancajas, who had held his IBF World title since 2016, was making his 10th title defense on Saturday night. The 30 year old Filipino was fighting for the first time in the famous city of Las Vegas, but things unraveled fairly quickly after a good start.

The champ, now 33-2-2, used his southpaw stance to effectively work his way inside early on against the largely inexperienced Martinez in the first couple of rounds. Ancajas repeatedly scored with left hooks to the body and the head. There was an accidental clash of heads in the fourth round that resulted in the challenger suffering a slight cut just over his left eye.

But then, the 30 year old Argentine, who came in with a 13-0 record, but not having fought a significant contending fighter in his pro career, turned it on. He continued to force his way inside of the champion and score with short left uppercuts and left hooks that stunned and backed up the the champ, Ancajas, as the fight continued.

Martinez’s best round to that point of the fight was the ninth, where he landed 40 punches many were power shots, including the hard left hooks followed by right hands. In fact, Martinez overwhelmed Ancajas by landing a staggering total of 421-170 power shots over the 12 rounds.

And, he finished out strongly winning the final three rounds of the bout on the judges cards to seal the easy decision win.

After the fight, Martinez referenced his deceased father, who continued to tell anyone who would listen that his son would become a world champ.

“It hurts so much that my father is not here for this great moment in my life,” Martinez told Showtime through an interpreter in the ring. “I know he oversaw this…. 

“I haven’t even fallen to earth yet. This was my dream since I was 11 years old! Before the fight, I would ask myself what it would be like to bring the belt home to my mom in Argentina. I made that dream come true.”

It turned out to be quite night Saturday for the new champ at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino on the Vegas strip.