Alexis Rocha has good reason to feel like 2023 will be his year.
The streaking welterweight contender has enjoyed a steady stream of ring activity that will continue atop Golden Boy Promotions’ first show of the new year. Rocha will face Atlantic City’s Anthony Young atop a January 28 DAZN show from YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California. It comes at a time when the right breaks could lead to his first major title fight, particularly a shot at WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.
“I would love to fight Crawford,” Rocha told BoxingScene.com. “No question, it’s inevitable that we will fight if he chooses to stay around at welterweight. I’m knocking on the door of challenging Terence Crawford, and challenging Errol Spence.”
The 25-year-old southpaw from nearby Santa Ana, California enters the fight riding a five-fight win streak. The run has helped Rocha (21-1, 13KOs) advance to number-three in the WBO rankings. A win over Young (24-2, 8KOs) could see the opportunity come sooner than expected.
Ranked ahead of Rocha are Golden Boy promoted Vergil Ortiz Jr. (19-0, 19KOs) and former unified titlist Keith Thurman (30-1, 22KOs), both of whom have their own opportunities on the horizon.
Ortiz is due to face secondary WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 10KOs; 1NC), with their originally scheduled March 18 clash now more likely to take place in April. Thurman awaits a fight date for a long-desired showdown with WBA ‘Super’/WBC/IBF champ Errol Spence (28-0, 22KO), though likely in a non-title affair slated for later this spring.
Both fights clear a direct path for Rocha to directly challenge Crawford (39-0, 30KOs), who will eventually have a mandatory due by the time he next enters the ring. The first order of business, of course, is pushing past Young who has won thirteen in a row heading into the forthcoming DAZN headliner.
“I just gotta keep putting on the type of performances I’ve been doing,” noted Rocha.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
