Alexis Rocha admitted he had a tough time against Jesus Perez on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old American encountered a game Mexican on the JoJo Diaz vs. William Zepeda undercard, and the pair of them exchanged some heavy blows over the course of the fight, shown live on DAZN.
Ultimately Rocha’s quality won the day with a unanimous decision, but Rocha had been aiming for the knockout only to be frustrated by an opponent who took plenty of punishment but stayed the course.
Speaking to DAZN after the fight, Rocha admitted: "This was a tough mother.
“I thought I was gonna get him out of there in the second round but he stuck around."
Perez was not expected to present too much of a problem, having been out of the ring since December 2019, and he did struggle to counter most of Rocha’s aggression and accuracy, with a doctor checking him over after the second round such was the one-sided nature of the early exchanges.
After a 2020 defeat to Rashidi Ellis, Rocha has now won five consecutive fights as he continues his comeback in an attempt to win a shot at a world title at 147lbs, something that could be delayed until, and if, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. meet to decide who is undisputed at welterweight.