Alexis Rocha knew George Ashie would not be an easy fight and he wasn't wrong. The replacement opponent came to fight on Saturday night at the YouTube Theatre but still ended up going down in seven rounds by knockout.
Rocha - currently ranked number four welter by the WBO - anticipated that this fight would work as preparation to go later in the year for a world title shot and he may not have been wrong, as the Ghanaian fighter kept pushing and complicating the picture.
It took a couple of rounds to adjust styles and guards, but when they found the rhythm they began to throw heavy punches, especially with hooks to the side.
"That was what I had to do. A statement. Come on. I'm ready for the big names," he said after improving his record to 22-1, 14 KOs.
In the sixth round, there was an unintentional headbutt that caused a deep cut over the left eyebrow of Rocha that put the fight in jeopardy for a bit. But Alexis wasn't to let that stand in his way and for the next round he finished the Ghanaian with a right hook to the face while his guard was down.
All updates from the show can be found below: