A hellacious fight that closed 2024 is being finalized to help open 2026, as BoxingScene has learned highly ranked welterweights Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel are bound for a January rematch in Palm Springs, California.
Golden Boy Promotions stablemates Rocha 25-2-1 (16 KOs) and Curiel 16-0-1 (14 KOs) fought to an entertaining draw on December 14 in Ontario, California, as both are ranked by the WBO and WBC.
Rocha, of Santa Ana, California, is No. 2 in the WBO ratings under champion Brian Norman Jnr while Mexico’s Curiel, 29, is No. 3 by the WBC and WBA, No. 5 in the IBF and No. 3 in the WBO following his fourth-round knockout of Victor Rodriguez on the June 28 card headlined by Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr in Anaheim, California.
Rocha has been out of the ring since the Curiel bout, sidelined by an injury.
“It has been extremely difficult to be away from the gym and from boxing,” Rocha posted on Instagram in June.
The rematch is pegged for the spacious Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, a newer venue that recently hosted a Paul McCartney tour-opening concert and provides more seating than Golden Boy’s frequently used nearby destination, Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, California.
Judges scored Rocha-Curiel I 114-114 twice (judges Lou Moret and Fernando Villarreal) and 116-112 for Rocha (Pat Russell). Both 5-feet-9 with a 70-inch reach, the pair participated in an action card as Rocha experienced success from his southpaw stance and Curiel answered with resolve and effective uppercuts in exchanges.
At one point, DAZN broadcaster Todd Grisham exclaimed, “It’s a Mexican slobberknocker … like a movie.”
The fight date has yet to be finalized, officials said.
