Alexis Rocha’s rebuild project continues against knockout artist Raul Curiel

LOS ANGELES – Alexis Rocha has been reviving his career after getting within arm’s reach of realizing his world title aspirations.

The welterweight suffered a crushing knockout loss to Giovani Santillan in October 2023. With that win, Santillan catapulted himself to an opportunity right after to fight Brian Norman Jnr. for the WBO interim welterweight title and was knocked out as well by Norman, who has since been elevated to full champion status by the sanctioning body after Terence Crawford officially moved up to 154 pounds.

Since the Santillan loss, Rocha (25-2, 16 KOs) has beaten Fredrick Lawson in March and Santiago Dominguez in July, and on Saturday, he will headline a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN when he takes on knockout artist Raul Curiel (15-0, 13 KOs) at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

“I’m rebuilding myself, in a sense, that I need to work harder, and most importantly, work smarter,” Rocha told BoxingScene. “I have the faith in myself to improve every single day. Once I do that, everything will fall into place.

“It’s an honor to headline fights and go out there to perform in front of all of my fans who pay their hard-earned money to see me. Every fight is important to me. Every fight could lead to a world title shot, that’s the way I have to look at it.”

Rocha said he somewhat got lost in the thrill of the battle against Santillan, which took place at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles in front of an electric crowd. Rocha was knocked down three times and stopped inside six rounds against the southpaw from San Diego.

“I was very prepared mentally and physically for the Santillan fight,” Rocha explained. “It was more about listening to my coaches about the game plan. It’s hard when you have a jam-packed place, and everyone is chanting your name while you’re getting hit, and you’re hitting him. It was a war. You start going with your emotions and not using your brain. I learned that I have to use my brain no matter who it’s against, or where. You have to listen to the gameplan.”

A partisan crowd should be showing up for the 27-year-old Rocha once again, who lives nearby in Santa Ana and has proven to be a draw for Oscar De La Hoya’s company, headlining several shows already across Southern California.

Rocha is currently ranked No. 2 by the WBO, No. 7 by the IBF and No. 9 by the WBC. A big win against Curiel, who’s knocked out his last 10 opponents over the last five years, should further revive Lex’s career.

“Against Curiel, I’m more focused and disciplined on what I need to do,” said Rocha. “He’s a strong fighter who’s going to bring a lot of challenges. I can’t look past him. That’s all that matters to me. I have to handle business for me to look forward to 2025.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.