Big plans are in store for one of the sport’s youngest titleholders.

Erick ‘Mini PacMan’ Rosa continues to seek an upgrade from secondary WBA ‘World’ strawweight title status, which his team hopes will come after his next scheduled fight. For now, the unbeaten 22-year-old will enjoy a hometown headliner for his first title defense which comes versus Panama’s Carlos Ortega. The bout takes place July 15 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Rosa’s hometown and where he will appear for the fifth time in as many pro fights.

A global tour is in the works, particularly as he takes aim at the division’s top ranked fighter, WBA “Super” strawweight titlist Thammanoon Niyomtrong (23-0, 9KOs; b/k/a Knockout CP Freshmart).

Erick “Mini PacMan” Rosa will defend his World Title against Panamanian Carlos “La Arañita” Ortega,” Belgica Pena, Rosa’s promoter and head of Shuan Boxing, confirmed to BoxingScene.com. “I think that "Mini PacMan" should win convincingly and then go to our camp in Las Vegas and face the WBA super champion to have a single [WBA] champion.”

The fight has been demanded by Pena—the leading promoter in D.R.—ever since Rosa (5-0, 1KOs) claimed the interim WBA strawweight title in his fourth pro fight last July 21 in Santo Domingo. His reign lasted barely one month before the WBA removed the belts from circulation as part of its title reduction policy, which affected several Shuan Boxing fighters including unbeaten junior welterweight Alberto Puello.

Rosa was inserted as the number-one contender, though limited to a four-man box-off to determine the final mandatory challenger for Niyomtrong, the sport’s longest reigning male titlist with his reign dating back to June 2016. Rosa did his part, outlasting Philippines’ Vic Saludar (21-5, 11KOs) last December 21 to win the WBA ‘World’ title. He will next defend against Ortega (15-6-3, 6KOs), a first-time title challenger from La Chorrera, Panama.

The other side of the WBA strawweight tournament was supposed to see former titlist Byron Rojas and Leyman Benavides collide in an all-Nicaragua showdown to determine who would next face Rosa. That fight—which was ordered last fall—has yet to happen and with Benavides having not fought since 2020.

Rosa and his team have grown tired of waiting for the process to play out, with the young boxer having already done all that has been asked of him. With a win on July 15, the plan from there is to unseat Niyomtrong if for no other reason than to set his sights on the rest of the division.

“After we win, God willing, then we could unify the WBO champion with Masataka Taniguchi since they only do it with the only champion of each division,” vows Pena.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox