Jade won’t fight Jerwin

Unbeaten Jade Bornea of General Santos City via Arakan, Cotabato del Norte, earned a mandatory shot at IBF superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas ’title by disposing of No. 3 contender Mohammed Obbadi in the third round of an eliminator in Monterrey, Mexico, last Friday but isn’t inclined to pursue a duel with his sparmate and countryman.

Bornea, 26, took out Obbadi, 28, with a body shot and raised his unblemished record to 17-0, with 11 KOs. Obbadi, a Moroccan who lives in Italy, was the highest ranked IBF contender with the No. 1 and 2 slots vacant. Bornea came in at No. 7 and made short work of Obbadi whose record before the fight was 22-1, with 13 KOs.

Although he’s next in line to challenge Ancajas, Bornea isn’t in a hurry. “It’s a tricky situation,” said Bornea’s manager JC Manangquil. “Jerwin helped Jade prepare for Obbadi at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Jerwin even switched to orthodox in sparring with Jade to be like Obbadi. Jade, of course, prefers not to fight Jerwin. He’ll wait to see what happens because Jerwin will defend his title on Feb. 26 then fight (Kazuto) Ioka in a unification. I expect Jerwin to beat Ioka so he’ll end up with two belts, the IBF and WBO. It could be Jerwin moving up in weight so Jade can fight for the vacant title, either IBF or WBO. Or Jerwin could give up one title which Jade will fight for. Jerwin has two fights coming and maybe, Jade will do a tune-up while waiting.”

Manangquil said there was no doubt in his mind that Bornea would annihilate Obbadi. “I expected it to finish that way,” he said. “We’ve studied Obbadi, he’s good but Jade’s at a different level. Jade trained for four months in LA and was ready for Obbadi. Credit his trainers Ernel Fontanilla and Sugar Ting Ariosa for the focus. They worked his corner in Monterrey and Marlon (Tapales) was also with him.” Bornea recently signed a promotional contract with Richard Schaefer’s Probellum which arranged the Monterrey fight.

Bornea relocated to LA last September and Mananquil said he’s not going home without the world title strap around his waist. It’s the same thing with Tapales who’s IBF superbantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev’s next challenger. Manangquil said he’s working on a long-term apartment use for Bornea and Tapales in LA. The IBF recently postponed a purse bid for the Akhmadaliev-Tapales fight and has until Tuesday to settle it. Bornea battled Akhmadaliev twice in the amateurs, losing once on points and winning once on a third-round stoppage.  “Kabisado ni Jade ang style ni Murodjon,” said Manangquil. “Jade will give Marlon good advice on how to fight him.”