After a brutal loss last October, welterweight contender Alexis Rocha will embark on a comeback fight against Fredrick Lawson on March 30 in the Arsen Goulamirian vs. Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez headline fight.
Rocha (23-2, 15 KOs) was riding a three-year, seven-fight winning streak heading into his Inglewood showdown with Giovani Santillan, but was absolutely battered by the Top Rank import en route to three knockdowns and a sixth-round finish. While losses to the likes of Santillan and Rashidi Ellis aren’t necessarily career-ending, and Rocha still has time to rebound at 26, he’ll need something large to recapture his shine.
Lawson (30-4, 22 KO) is a very miniature step at best, although I appreciate Golden Boy giving him another chance after what happened last time out. “General Okunka” was supposed to welcome Vergil Ortiz Jr to the super welterweight division in January, but was stopped by Tony Weeks slow in their first match.
Weeks later he claimed that Lawson’s pre-fight medical tests revealed an aneurysm, but considering Lawson returned to the ring and Weeks did not, I’d go ahead and say that’s nonsense.
“My last fight didn’t go the way I expected,” Rocha said. “I let a lot of people down, myself included. The next phase of my career is the revenge route. That’s when I became everything I knew I wanted to be in this sport. The pain I feel from this last loss is going to be the pain any opponent feels moving forward.
“I know Alexis is a top player, but so am I, and I’m going to prove it to everyone,” Lawson said.
The main card will also feature flyweight contender Ricardo Sandoval (23-2, 16 KOs) taking on Luis Hernandez (13-6-1, 8 KOs), whose several losses have come to mighty competition like Argi Cortes, Angel Ayala and Felix Alvarado. Opening the card is welterweight Santiago Dominguez (26-0, 20 KOs) taking on Jose Sanchez (14-3-1, 4 KOs).