date, time, view, background

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)

• Day: Saturday, January 28
• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event follows)
• Where: YouTube Theatre, Inglewood, California
• television/stream: DAZN
• Assignment: Middleweight (147 pounds)
• threatened: No main title
• Pound-for-pound ratings: Not available
• the odds: ARE NOT
• Also on the card: Floyd Schofield versus Alberto Mercado, lightweight; Bektemir Melikuziev vs. Daniel Terry, super middleweight; Oscar Collazo vs Yudel Reyes, strawweight
• Guess: University of Rocha
• Story: Rocha has won 5 straight games since he lost to Rashidi Ellis in a unanimous decision in 2020, a record that lifted the rankings of two of the four main sanctioning bodies. He’s the WBO’s #3 candidate, just behind owners Terence Crawford, Vergil Ortiz and Keith Thurman. The 25-year-old boxer from Orange County, California, was about to make the decision to nearly end his fight with Jesus Antonio Perez Campos last October. Ashie agreed to play Rocha earlier this week after his original opponent Anthony Young was carded. Ashie fought mainly in his native Ghana. The 38-year-old has won five games in a row – all in Ghana – since he lost to Irishman Stephen Ormond in 2018 in Scotland. He last fought in March of last year, when he battled compatriot Robert Quaye for eight rounds in Accra.