IT’S going to be a gradual step Jonas Sultan will have to take before he gets another crack at a world title.
While the 29-year-old Filipino was truly impressive in his unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Carlos Caraballo on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, his handlers are not in a hurry yet for Sultan to challenge for any of the title belts at 118 pounds out of the four major boxing bodies.
What's next for Jonas Sultan?
At most, the native of Tampilisan, Zamboanga Del Norte will be set for another tune up match, and depending on its outcome, will hopefully go for a world championship next.
“We’re looking for another fight, and then the world title,” Sean Gibbons, president of MP Promotions which handles Sultan, said on Monday.
But the year is definitely over for Sultan, whose return in the ring won’t happen until the first quarter of 2022.
Sultan previously challenged for a world title against close buddy and reigning IBF super-flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas in 2018, but lost it by unanimous decision.
He fought three more times after the loss to Ancajas before being sidelined for almost two years when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Despite the long absence due to the uncertainty of the situation, Sultan was nothing but remarkable in his ring comeback this year.
He announced his return with a seventh round stoppage of American Sharone Carter in the undercard of the Johnriel Casimero-Guillermo Rigondeaux title fight last August 14 in Carson, California.
That set him up to a challenging encounter with the 25-year-old Caraballo, a fearsome, rising bantamweight from Puerto Rico who built a reputation as a knockout artist after winning all of his first 14 fights by way of knockout.
Sultan however, was undaunted by Caraballo’s perfect record and engaged him in a bruising battle highlighted by five knockdowns, four courtesy of the Filipino.
“It was really a rough fight,” said Gibbons, noting the bandage on Sultan’s left cheek and a blotch just below his right eye a day after the war with Caraballo.
Sultan said he’s not yet certain if he will be going back home for the holidays as everything will depend on the plans of MP Promotions.
Besides, Ancajas and trainer Joven Jimenez are up for a title defense by December.
Ancajas served as Sultan’s sparmate leading to the Caraballo fight, while Jimenez was the one who worked his corner during the match.
Sultan, Ancajas, Jimenez, and promoter Brendan Gibbons are now back in Los Angeles to resume Jerwin’s training camp.