INDIO, Calif. – Another fight, another win for Alexis Rocha.
Before a partisan crowd, Rocha broke down Anthony Young, eventually dropping him to the canvas and notching a knockout win in round 5 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.
Rocha, who is ranked No. 10 by The Ring, improved to 22-1, 15 knockouts.
From the opening bell, the southpaw Rocha was dominant, landing at will. Any time he would initiate an exchange, Young would immediately tie up or clench.
Young did little to engage, backing up cautiously and keeping his distance from Rocha. At times, he would throw and land two to three punches, but they had no effect on Rocha.
ALEXIS ROCHA ENDS IT 🔥#RochaYoung pic.twitter.com/ExXdATCVEB
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 28, 2023
With a few minute left within the fifth spherical, a counter, overhand left cross to the pinnacle. Younger was on his means down however the backside rope saved him propped up. Younger staggered as referee Thomas Taylor administered an 8-count. Taylor waved the struggle off at 2:15 after figuring out Younger was too unstable to proceed.
“I’m very onerous on myself,” stated Rocha after the struggle. “I nonetheless suppose I can develop.
“I knew he was going to dictate the tempo, however I knew he was going to come back in assured. I knew from the opening spherical that left hand was going to be there. My coach instructed me to arrange and explode with the straight left over or overhand. That’s how I used to be capable of rating that knockdown.”
Rocha, who grew up in close by Santa Ana, was talked about as a attainable opponent for WBO world titleholder Terence Crawford after the win over Ashie, however Crawford will now face unified titleholder Errol Spence in a long-awaited conflict on July 29 in Las Vegas.
The 25-year-old is the obligatory challenger for the WBO title.
Rocha has now received his final seven fights since his solely loss by the hands of Rashidi Ellis in October 2020. He’s the youthful brother of former world junior featherweight title challenger Ronny Rios.
Younger, who resides in Atlantic Metropolis, New Jersey, falls to 24-3, 8 KOs. Previous to the loss to Rocha, the 35-year-old had put collectively a string of 13 consecutive wins, together with a knockout win over former world junior middleweight titleholder Sadam Ali in Might 2019.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has coated boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He will be reached at [email protected]
