BY KEITH IDEC
July 15, 2023 Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Freudis Rojas took advantage of his unexpected exposure Saturday night.
The 24-year-old welterweight prospect kept his perfect knockout record intact by stopping Mexican veteran Diego Sanchez in the seventh round of their scheduled 10-rounder at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Houston’s Rojas (11-0, 11 KOs), a Las Vegas native who fought in his hometown for the first time as a pro, was winning comfortably when Sanchez’s trainer decided that his fighter had taken enough punishment early in the seventh round. Referee Tony Weeks officially stopped their televised fight 58 seconds into the seventh round. Showtime aired Rojas’ win as part of the Frank Martin-Artem Harutyunyan undercard. Tijuana’s Sanchez (19-3, 16 KOs) lost for the third time in his past four fights. Sanchez ended a 19-month layoff against Rojas, but he represented a step up in competition for Rojas, whose first 10 opponents possessed a combined record of 79-134-16 entering their fights with him.
The tall, rangy Rojas, who boxed beyond the fourth round for the first time, and Sanchez were supposed to square off in a non-televised fight Saturday night. They were elevated into the televised opener of Showtime’s three-bout broadcast because the 12-round WBC bantamweight championship match between Nonito Donaire and Alexandro Santiago was moved Wednesday to the pay-per-view portion of the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford undercard July 29 at nearby T-Mobile Arena.
Donaire-Santiago was pushed back two weeks because injuries sustained by junior middleweight contender Jesus Ramos (hand) and heavyweight Viktor Faust (back) impacted the televised undercard.
In the round before the stoppage, Rojas landed a left hand and spun out of Sanchez’s punching range barely 45 seconds into the sixth round. Sanchez closed the distance during the sixth round, but Rojas dealt with it well for the most part by landing shorter shots to Sanchez’s head and body. Sanchez did drill Rojas with a right hand, however, several seconds before the sixth round concluded.
Sanchez landed a right hand and back-to-back left uppercuts with just under 35 seconds remaining in the fifth round. A straight left by Rojas backed up Sanchez a little less than a minute into the fifth round.
Rojas’ hard left to Sanchez’s body landed with just over 10 seconds on the clock in the fourth round.
Rojas landed a left uppercut a little more than a minute into the fourth round. Rojas remained in complete control during the third round, when he consistently connected with straight lefts to Sanchez’s head and landed jabs to Sanchez’s head and body. Sanchez landed a right hand with just over 1:20 remaining in the second round, but Rojas otherwise had his way with Sanchez in those three minutes. Rojas landed jabs and left hands to Sanchez’s head and occasionally connected with body shots in that round as well.
Rojas rocked Sanchez with a left hand that wobbled him with just over 30 seconds on the clock in the opening round. A stiff left by Rojas backed up Sanchez 1:15 into the opening round.
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