Alexis Rocha lost his last fight and it was a bout he was heavily favored to win.
Rocha was stopped on October 21 in the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California by Giovani Santillan. The bout looked to serve as a breakout performance – one to elevate him to the elite of Golden Boy Promotions’ stable. Instead, he was unable to continue in the sixth-round of that fight.
Welterweight Rocha (23-2, 15 KOs) returns on March 30 against Fredrick Lawson (30-4, 22 KOs), at the same venue Rocha just lost at previously. It will be on the same network, too – DAZN – and Rocha has spoken of his past failures.
“To all the young fighters, let your setbacks fuel you,” said Rocha. “Let your failures be your stepping stones to your success. I refuse to lose sight of my dreams.”
Rocha is now 26. He is entering a new phase of his career – going from developmental talent to now finding out what he can achieve in boxing. In business, it would be the phase in which the investor looks to return on the investment.
Both fighters are coming off knockout losses. Lawson, 34, was stopped in one round by Vergil Ortiz at junior middleweight – one weight class higher than where this will be contested. Some felt the stoppage by Tony Weeks’ was premature. All four of Lawson’s losses have been via stoppage.
“A true warrior doesn’t just avoid losses, but it is about how they get back, hold their head up and move forward,” furthered Rocha.
Before his loss to Santillan, Rocha was riding a seven-fight win streak. He was in the conversation to fight for a world title. One of the rumored contests was against Terence Crawford, who is considered one of the best fighters in the world.
“Yeah, I know I took a loss in my last fight, but I refuse to let that define who I am,” said Rocha.