Alexis Rocha was expecting to be fighting Terence Crawford after his January 28th, seventh-round knockout of Georgie Ashie. Instead, he is fighting his original opponent, Anthony “Juice” Young on May 27th, at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California, which will be broadcast on DAZN.
Rocha, who is currently rated as the number-one contender in the WBO welterweight rankings details how we got to this point in which he is fighting on Saturday without a world title on the line.
So, Rocha, who believed he was going to be in the biggest fight of his life against one of the best fighters in the world, and in this era - Terence Crawford, now refuses to stay inactive. As Rocha has been the most active welterweight since the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of fighters getting marquee television fights, and didn’t want to wait any longer.
“[Crawford waiting to fight Errol Spence was] gonna put us on the sidelines,” said Rocha to ProBoxTV News. “So Golden Boy, and DAZN. They both reached out to each other and said, ‘Hey, we have a date for the 27th and I believe that was about eight and a half weeks [from the fight date]. So we said, Yes, we're not going to stay on the sidelines. We are going to keep active keep building up the momentum and keep getting better.”
Rocha is currently ranked number one by the WBO in the welterweight division, and per BoxRec.com, Rocha is ranked number five amongst active welterweight - something of note, Errol Spence Jr is not listed since he has not fought in over a year. Rocha is looking to stay active as part of his process of becoming a world champion.
“This is my seventh fight within 23 months,” explained the very busy Rocha. “Coming off that last highlight reel [knockout], you know, it feels very good. Like I said, I'm not gonna go in there and expect that every time. I'm professional at this, and like I tell every reporter my job is May 27th [against] Anthony Young, and that's pretty much it. Sorry to be boring, I gotta have tunnel vision.”
Despite not having Terence Crawford as his opponent, Rocha is very motivated and carries the motivation to this fight, he says he would have had if he were facing Crawford.
“To me, you always have to have that chip on your shoulder that I don't care who's in front of me that I'm gonna go and perform the best I possibly can,” said Crawford. “Whether it's Anthony Young, or whether it's Terence Crawford, my job is to go in there and shine, but mentally, you just got to stay sharp for whatever.”
As for his opponent Anthony Young, who knocked out and retired former world champion, Sadam Ali. Rocha sees him as a viable threat, but also someone who lacks the experience that he has.
“I see a guy who's gonna come into it to spoil the night,” said Rocha. “I don't think he's been in there with the type of caliber fighter like me besides Sadam Ali and I expect the best version of Anthony Young.
As for what is next - whether it is Vergil Ortiz, his promotional stablemate, or Terence Crawford. Rocha is looking at only one fight right now - Anthony Young.
“The job is to keep winning to keep winning,” said Rocha. “My job is to like I always say I [am] going to break these guys down, and once I know when I break someone down, their body starts to do this, the fatigue [sets in] and the body shots start [leading to] the head starts opening up. From there, you just got to execute the game plan and step on their neck.”
