After negotiations with former champion Brian Norman Jr fell through, Dan Rafael reports that welterweight contender Conah Walker will instead meet Alexis Rocha in a December 5th main event in Walker’s hometown of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.
Walker (18-3-1, 9 KO) has been on fire since a 3-3 skid saw him drop a trio of close decisions, taking out countrymen Lewis Ritson and Harry Scarff before a breakout beatdown of undefeated amateur standout Pat McCormack last December. He went on to
score a rare stoppage of fellow ‘ard lad Sam Eggington in May, earning the no. 3 spot in the WBA’s welterweight rankings in the process.
Rocha (27-2-1, 16 KO) continues to truck along after his potentially derailing 2023 knockout loss to Giovani Santillan, racking up a 4-0-1 record marred only by a draw with Raul Curiel in which he was expected to lose. He last saw action earlier this month against the badly faded Jose Ramirez, whom he battled to an entertaining unanimous decision that proved wider on the scorecards than in reality.
Not as relevant to the division as the Norman fight would have been, nor nearly as challenging on paper for Walker, but the ingredients are there for a hell of a scrap. We’ll let you know if and when it’s official.
