Welterweights Alexis Rocha & Giovani Santillan both made weight on Friday and set to battle on Saturday night for the WBO mandatory spot at the historic KIA Forum in Inglewood, California.
Weights: Alexis Rocha 147 vs. Giovani Santillan 146
The event will be shown live on DAZN starting at 5:00 p.m. ET. Rocha (23-1, 17 KOs) has won his last seven fights since losing a narrow 12-round decision to Rashidi Ellis in 2020. Rocha’s best win since then came against Blair Cobbs, a ninth-round stoppage last year. Rocha is currently the WBO mandatory to champion Terence Crawford.
Santillan (31-0, 16 KOs) is an eleven-year professional with only one notable victory on his resume against his past best former lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco.
“This is a good match-up. They’re both contenders. Rocha has won seven fights in a row. His only loss was a close call to Rashidi Ellis, who is a superb boxer, and here he goes into the ring already as the mandatory challenger for the WBO, which he is risking for this fight,” said Dan Rafael to BET US TV, talking about Alexis Rocha and his opponent Giovani Santillan.
“When you saw Terence Crawford & Errol Spence fight for the undisputed welterweight championship. The reason those four belts were at stake was because Rocha, who is the WBO mandatory for that belt, agreed to step aside and allow that fight to go through to fight for all four belts.
“He’s going to stay busy and not sit around for Crawford and whatever he made do with that belt. So, he is risking his mandatory status. Santillan is an excellent boxer, also. He’s also a fellow southpaw, so this is a matching left-hander vs. left-hander.
“He’s 31-0. Although Rocha has one defeat, I think the opponents he’s defeated are generally better than the opponents Santillan’s best win was a decision over Antonio Demarco, who used to be one of the lightweight title-holders and is sort of beyond his best days.
“Rocha has been sharp, he’s been active. This is going to be Rocha’s third fight this year. So, he’s been staying sharp. He’s scored two knockouts previously in the other two fights he’s had this year.
“This is no question the toughest fight he’s had this year based on the opposition he’s facing. So, it does shape up to be a very solid fight. The winner, if it’s Rocha, he preserves his mandatory status. If Santillan gets the victory, he puts himself in a tremendous position. So it should be a fun fight.
“Another thing about it is that it’s a regional rivalry because Rocha is an LA guy, and Santillan is a San Diego guy. They’re fighting at the Forum on the outskirts of Inglewood. There haven’t been a lot of fights there in the last few years, but this is one of them.
“Main event on a DAZN card. It’s a pretty good match-up. I’m going to go with Alexis Rocha. I think he’s been really sharp in the last few fights. He’s gotten better. I like the activity, and I like the punching power. Santillan is not as tested, and when he was against Demarco, he did get the win, but it was a little shaky going,” said Rafael.
Alexis “Lex” Rocha 147 vs. Giovani Santillan 146.6
John “Scrappy” Ramirez 115 vs. Ronal Batista 114.2
Arely Mucino 111.8 vs. Gabriela Fundora 110.8
David Stevens 167 vs. Joeshon James 166.8
Ricardo Sandoval 111.8 vs. Victor Sandoval 111.2