Alexis Rocha believes in redemption and proving he’s nonetheless a top-10 contender.
Rocha, who’s rated No. 9 by The Ring at 147 kilos, will face unbeaten Santiago Dominguez in a compelling crossroads bout Friday night time on the Fantasy Springs Resort On line casino in Indio, California. The ten-round bout will headline a five-bout Golden Boy Struggle Evening on DAZN card (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).
The southpaw Rocha (24-2, 16 knockouts), who grew up in Santa Ana, California, was victorious in his final bout on March 30, scoring a knockout win over Fredrick Lawson after spherical seven. In his earlier struggle on October 21, Rocha was dropped a number of instances earlier than dropping by knockout to then-unbeaten contender Giovani Santillan.
The loss to Santillan snapped a string of seven victories since an in depth resolution loss to Rashidi Ellis in October 2020.
Rocha is the youthful brother of former world junior featherweight title challenger Ronny Rios, who supplied steering and mentorship to Rocha after the loss to Santillan.
“The precious recommendation he gave me was to maintain my head up,” Rocha advised The Ring Tuesday. “He’s been there. I didn’t wish to begin to doubt myself and my talents. I gave myself time to mentally transfer ahead and achieve confidence.
The loss to Santillan dropped Rocha within the Ring rankings, and in addition price him his No. 1 rating by the WBO.
Dominguez (27-0, 20 KOs), who’s initially from Ciudad Obregon, Mexico and now resides in Phoenix, Arizona, additionally fought on March 30 card, profitable by cut up resolution over Jose Luis Sanchez. Rocha is satisfied an announcement win over Dominguez would solidify his standings amongst the perfect welterweights on this planet.
“I simply need to give attention to what I’ve to do (tonight),” stated Rocha, who made his professional debut in March 2016 and has since fought below the Golden Boy banner. “If he’s going to be aggressive, then I’ll alter to that. I can convey it too, however I do know once I must field. I can field and outbox my opponent. I wish to present that (tonight).
“I can take my time and I may be aggressive once I have to be. I can cool down, and I may time my opponent. I can finish issues when my opponent is harm.
“I actually imagine and I’ve demonstrated I’m a top-10 contender. A win (tonight) would put me in line for a world title shot within the close to future. I can, one hundred pc, get higher. You haven’t seen the perfect model of Alexis Rocha.”
The 27-year-old proved he was capable of bounce again from the loss to Ellis to be the topic of a attainable world title shot in opposition to Ring Journal and undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford. Might he do the identical after dropping by knockout to Santillan?
The win over Lawson is an effective begin, and an announcement win over Dominguez may reaffirm Rocha being a legit welterweight contender.
Rocha believes he’s again on observe and a win over Dominguez would solidify his stance on being a strong well-rounded fighter.
“I’m content material with the place I’m at,” stated Rocha. “I study from my losses. I take a look at what I did. I take the positives and the negatives in stride. I work with (coach) Hector Lopez to get higher with every struggle.
“I don’t suppose boxing followers have seen the perfect model of me. one hundred pc. I’m maturing and I’m getting stronger on a regular basis. I’m extra muscular than once I was 18. It’s getting a bit tougher to make weight due to my metabolism, however I’m rather a lot stronger at this weight.”
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Rocha weighed in at 146.4 kilos. Dominguez got here in 146.8 kilos.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He may be reached at [email protected]
Observe @FSalazarBoxing
