INDIO, CA – Solidifying his worthy place at No.1 on the WBO rankings, Alexis “Lex” Rocha (23-1,15 KOs) of Santa Ana efficiently defended his NABO Welterweight title in opposition to Anthony “Juice” Younger (24-3, 8 KOs) with a fifth-round knockout victory as the principle occasion dwell on DAZN from Fantasy Springs Resort On line casino and introduced in affiliation with Laborious Hitting Promotions. The seventh time Rocha has fought in 23-months, his stress on Younger ranging from the primary spherical finally broke the veteran fighter down. The referee stopped the combat at 2:25 within the fifth spherical.
“I knew he was going to come back in with the identical vitality he did when he fought Sadam Ali, and I used to be prepared for that,” mentioned Alexis Rocha. “I need the winner of the Spence-Crawford combat, and I’m assured with the assistance of my wonderful promoter, Golden Boy and Oscar De La Hoya, we’ll make it occur.”
Particular friends of the evening included Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Associate Bernard Hopkins, Actor Gabriel Soto, Actor Alfie Allen, and numerous fighters together with Rolando “Rolly” Romero, Jousce Gonzalez, Manuel “Gucci Manny Flores, Grant Flores, Jorge Chavez, Joet Gonzalez, Ricardo Sandoval, Christian “Chimpa” Gonzalez, and Lorraine Villalobos.
In a dominant efficiency, light-weight fighter Oscar Duarte (26-1-1, 11 KOs) of Parral, Chihuahua added an Eleventh-straight knockout win to his resume because the co-main occasion that was introduced in affiliation with Cancun Boxing. Duarte despatched his opponent D’Angelo “King” Keyes (17-3, 11 KOs) of Houston, Texas to the mat twice; as soon as within the third spherical and within the seventh spherical. Initially scheduled for 10-rounds, Keyes solely made it to the top of the seventh the place his nook waived the white towel.
“This was a tremendous combat, with an incredible rival who was extremely robust and really ready,” mentioned Oscar Duarte. “From the start, our plan was to interrupt him down little by little. As I mentioned in earlier interviews, I wasn’t going to go in search of the knockout, I simply knew it was going to occur naturally simply based mostly on how nicely I had ready and the way I’ve matured bodily and mentally. I’d love a combat in opposition to William Zepeda.”
Making historical past for Villalba, Puerto Rico, Oscar “El Pupilo” Collazo (7-0, 4 KOs) etched his identify amongst the greats of Puerto Rican fighters and his division by being the quickest to change into a world champion within the minimumweight division. He turned the brand new WBO Minimumweight Champion when his opponent, former champion of Santos Metropolis, Philippines, Melvin “Gringo” Jerusalem (20-2, 12 KOs) retired in his nook on the conclusion of the seventh spherical.
“We knew we had a stable problem forward of us, however because of my nook, they helped me keep calm all through the combat,” mentioned Oscar Collazo. “I knew I needed to set up the tempo with my jab, and by the fourth or fifth spherical we began to hit the physique and he didn’t prefer it. We chopped the tree and we made historical past for Villalba. I’ll see you all in Puerto Rico in August, the place I’ll make my first title protection.”
Opening the DAZN broadcast, Los Angeles’ John “Scrappy” Ramirez (12-0, 8 KOs) fought in considered one of his hardest fights but in opposition to Riverside, CA’s warrior Fernando “Leoncito” Diaz (12-4-1, 4 KOs) in a 10-round tremendous flyweight combat. Ramirez secured a cut up division victory with judges scoring the combat 96-94, 94-96, and 96-94.
The Golden Boy Battle Evening: Rocha vs. Younger Prelims, streamed dwell on the Golden Boy Boxing YouTube web page, featured the extremely anticipated debut of Eric Priest (10-0, 7 KOs) of Los Angeles below the Golden Boy Promotions banner. Priest confronted a resilient fighter from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ricardo Villalba (20-9-1, 8 KOs), in an eight-round middleweight combat that went the gap. The judges scored the bout unanimously in favor of Priest with scores of 79-73, 80-72, 80-72.
In a pro-debut efficiency, not too long ago signed Golden Boy prospect of Santa Ana, Johnny Cañas (1-0) secured an unanimous determination victory in opposition to the robust Jose Alvarado (1-8) of Puebla, Mexico. The judges scored the four-round tremendous light-weight combat 40-36, 39-37, 39-37.
Opening combat evening and the Golden Boy YouTube Prelims with a stunning knockout in entrance of a hometown Coachella crowd, Leonardo “Bazooka” Sanchez (5-0, 4 KOs) added one more spotlight reel efficiency in his tremendous featherweight combat in opposition to Uhlices Reyes (1-1, 1 KO) of Omaha, Nebraska. Scheduled for four-rounds, Sanchez despatched Reyes to the mat as soon as within the first spherical and twice through the second, ending the combat at 1:01 in second spherical.
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Government Author, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a ardour for Fight Sports activities and in addition a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s additionally a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.
