Welterweight contender Alexis Rocha will face late replacement George Ashie on Saturday in Inglewood, California (DAZN).
ALEXIS ROCHA (21-1, 13 KOS) VS. GEORGE ASHIE (33-5-1, 25 KOs)
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 28
- Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: YouTube Theater, Inglewood, California
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Welterweight (147 pounds)
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Floyd Schofield vs. Alberto Mercado, lightweights; Bektemir Melikuziev vs. Daniel Terry, super middleweights; Oscar Collazo vs. Yudel Reyes, strawweights
- Prediction: Rocha UD
- Background: Rocha has won five consecutive fights since he lost a unanimous decision to slick Rashidi Ellis in 2020, a streak that has lifted into the rankings of two of the four major sanctioning bodies. He’s the WBO’s No. 3 contender, behind only titleholder Terence Crawford, Vergil Ortiz and Keith Thurman. The 25-year-old boxer-puncher from Orange County, California, is coming off a near-shutout decision over Jesus Antonio Perez Campos last October. Ashie agreed to fight Rocha early this week after original opponent Anthony Young was removed from the card. Ashie has fought primarily in his native Ghana. The 38-year-old has won five consecutive fights — all in Ghana — since he lost a close decision to Irishman Stephen Ormond in 2018 in Scotland. He last fought in March of last year, when he countryman Robert Quaye in eight rounds in Accra.