Alexis Rocha fully embraced all pre-fight talk regarding a potential future showdown with Terence Crawford.
It’s a conversation he is more eager to revisit as he plans his next fight, which he prefers to come sooner rather than later—and preferably with the WBO welterweight titlist standing in the opposite corner.
On Monday, the World Boxing Organization officially ordered Crawford to make a mandatory defense against Rocha.
“I’m knocking on that door to challenge Crawford,” Rocha told BoxingScene.com. “It’s inevitable.”
The writing was on the wall even before his January 28 knockout win of Ghana’s George Ashie at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California. Rocha—who proudly represents nearby Santa Ana—scored a spectacular seventh-round knockout of the otherwise overmatched journeyman, who was brought in as a late replacement for an injured Anthony Young.
The fight was a perceived mismatch to the point of the most common talking points centering on his one day challenging Crawford (39-0, 30KOs). It made sense given Rocha’s lofty ranking, as he is now the number-one contender to the title following his sixth consecutive win.
There is concern that the 25-year-old southpaw can stand to develop more as a contender. That argument is countered with the mentality that there is no time like the present.
“I won’t know if I’m ready until I’m actually in the ring with him,” Rocha noted. “If Golden Boy tells me he’s my next fight, of course I’ll be cool with that. I’m a young fighter who is here to fight the best.”
BoxingScene has knowledge of ongoing talks for such a fight (Golden Boy representatives and Rocha all declined comment on that development). Whenever that day comes, Rocha vows to be ready to rise to the occasion.
“My job is to fight the best, beat the best and become one of the best,” stated Rocha. “I want to change my life and my family’s life.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox