Rashidi Ellis has a ranking at welterweight, his eyes set on one of his division’s world titleholders, and his next fight date confirmed.
Ellis, 27-1 (18 KOs), is due to return on November 1 against Javier Fortuna, promoter CES Boxing announced. Their bout will headline at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The 32-year-old Ellis has fought twice so far in 2025. In February, he stopped the 16-9 Jose Angulo after seven rounds, also at the Mohegan Sun. And in June, Ellis needed less than three rounds to dispatch the 24-8-3 Josec Ruiz.
Ellis is ranked ninth by the WBO, whose belt is owned by Brian Norman Jnr. Norman is scheduled to defend against Devin Haney on November 22. Ellis is seeking to regain a foothold at 147lbs after suffering his sole defeat.
He won his first 24 fights, including a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Alexis Rocha in October 2020. But Ellis was upset by Roiman Villa on the undercard of Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Garcia in January 2023.
Villa dropped Ellis twice in the final round, which proved to be the difference on the scorecards. Two judges had the fight 114-112 for Villa while the third judge scored it even, 113-113. Had Ellis won the 12th – and prevented the 10-7 round – the tallies would have been 115-113 (twice) and 116-112, all for Ellis. The victory landed Villa a fight with Jaron “Boots” Ennis in July 2023 that Ennis won by 10th-round knockout.
Ellis, who hails from Lynn, Massachusetts, signed with New England-based promoter CES Boxing last year. He was previously under the Golden Boy Promotions banner and then joined the Premier Boxing Champions stable.
Fortuna, 39-6-1 (28 KOs), is a 36-year-old from the Dominican Republic now living in Braintree, Massachusetts. He held a secondary WBA belt at junior lightweight from 2015 until 2016, when he was stopped in the 11th round against Jason Sosa. Fortuna unsuccessfully challenged Robert Easter for the IBF lightweight title in 2018, dropping a split decision.
After a pair of wins over Sharif Bogere and Jesus Cuellar in 2019, it’s been mostly downhill for Fortuna’s career. He’s gone 4-4 over the past five years. Fortuna lost a decision to Joseph Diaz Jnr in 2021 in a bout for the WBC’s interim lightweight belt, was taken out in six rounds by Ryan Garcia in 2022, outpointed by Robbie Davies Jnr in 2024 and, in his last outing, called it a night after eight rounds with Alfredo Santiago in March.
The chief support for Ellis-Fortuna is a featherweight bout between Kevin Walsh, 18-0 (10 KOs), and Jose Nunez Sosa, 8-1 (6 KOs).
CES Boxing says that a portion of the event’s proceeds will be donated to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston in honor of JoAnne Sullivan, mother of CES Director of Operations Patrick Sullivan. Fans can show their support by wearing pink to the event and can also contribute to The JoAnne Sullivan Memorial Fund.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
