Shot down in a blaze of glory.

On Saturday, affable warrior Jamie Conlan lost in his bid to dethrone IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas, succumbing to a sixth-round stoppage at the SSE Arena in his home city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The official time was 0:52

Ancajas, who is rated No. 6 by THE RING at 115 pounds, floored the challenger four times, twice with vicious body shots. Conlan, as always, gave it everything he had, but it was a bridge too far for him at this stage of his career. Ancajas (28-1-1, 19 knockouts) was terrific.

There was a somewhat innocuous knockdown in the first round when Conlan went down on a delayed reaction. It wasn’t clear what caused it, but the challenger’s night went spiralling downhill from that moment onwards.

Conlan was cut in the second round and decked by a brutal array of body punches in the third.

The fourth was more of the same. The visitor broke through to the body again and forced Conlan to seek refuge on the canvas. This time it took longer for him to get up and the writing was well and truly on the wall.

In the fifth, Ancajas was penalized for low blows. The Filipino titleholder was guilty of straying below the belt, but the penalty point was academic. Conlan (19-1, 11 KOs) was miles behind and had more to worry about.

A quick combination to the head in Round 6, prompted referee Steve Gray to call the fight off.

Due to the depth of talent at junior bantamweight, Ancajas, a solid operator, has gone largely ignored. This victory, showcased on a high-profile card, should go some way toward changing that. If the Filipino lefty could make his way on to a potential Superfly 2 card in 2018, that would be ideal progress.

The 25-year-old Conlan, a real fighting man, has plenty of time to bounce back from his first professional setback.

Tom Gray is a UK Correspondent/ Editor for RingTV.com and a member of THE RING ratings panel. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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