Alexis Rocha vs Raul Curiel Preview Jan. 16th, 2026
Welterweight prospect Alexis Rocha of Santa Ana, California returns to the ring this Friday, January 16th when he faces unbeaten Raul Curiel of Mexico in a rematch of their 12-round majority draw in December, 2024. The 12-rounder from Palm Desert, California can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. This is Rocha’s first outing since the first bout with Curiel while Curiel fought in June and stopped Victor Rodriguez in the fourth round. Rocha lost his NBO NABO Welterweight Title in October, 2023 when he was stopped in the sixth round of a slugfest by Giovani Santillan and then bounced back by stopping Fredrick Lawson after seven rounds and earned a 10-round unanimous decision over Santiago Dominguez for the vacant WBO NABO Welterweight Title before running into Curiel. Before meeting Rocha, Curiel stopped Jorge Marron Jr after just 91 seconds with punishing body shots to defend his NABF Welterweight Crown. This Friday’s fight is for Curiel’s NABF Crown.
Rocha vs Curiel Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Raul Curiel -115
- Alexis Rocha -115
My Pick
The 28-year-old Rocha is a southpaw who enters the ring with a record of 25-2-1 with 16 Ko’s and has 169 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2016. As an amateur, Rocha became the youngest boxer to win a gold medal at the 2012 Junior Olympics when he was just 14 years old and was a six-time amateur national champion.
Rocha stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70-inch reach and carries pretty good power in his fists as 64 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he has halted six of his past 11 opponents. Rocha’s first pro defeat came at the hands of Rashidi Ellis by way of 12-round unanimous decision in October, 2020 in a shot at the vacant WBC International Welterweight Title. His second loss was a sixth-round KO at the hands of to Giovani Santillan in a slugfest in October, 2023.
He captured captured the vacant WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Crown in March, 2018 with a first-round stoppage of Miguel Perez and successfully defended it against Shoki Sakai, Berlin Abreu, Roberto Valenzuela Jr and Brad Soloman while stopping Abreu in the eighth round and Valenzuela after five. Rocha then won the vacant WBO NABO Welterweight Belt in July, 2022 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Luis Alberto Veron and defended it against Jesus Campos, George Ashie and Anthony Young and also had a ninth-round stoppage win over Blair Cobbs earlier in his career.
As for Curiel, the 30-year-old carries around a near perfect mark of 16-0-1 with 14 Ko’s and has boxed 88 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. As an amateur, Curiel earned wins over Zaur Abdullaev, Carlos Adames, Lamont Roach and Ted Cheeseman and fought in the World Series of Boxing. He also participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a light welterweight and won a gold medal at the 2012 AIBA World Championships as well as at the 2013 Olympic Cup Championships in Puerto Rico and the 2013 Golden Gloves Tournament Washington D.C.
Curiel also measures 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70-inch reach, the same as Rocha. As far as power is concerned, Curiel is definitely no slouch as 87.5 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. He’s gone the distance just three times as a pro as he beat Jesus Sanchez Quiroz via a four-round majority decision in his pro debut and downed Ryan Pino by a six-round unanimous decision in 2018. Curiel won the vacant NABF Welterweight title in 2021 when he stopped Ferdinand Kerobyan in the ninth round and has defended it five times against Kendo Castaneda, Brad Solomon, Courtney Pennington, Elias Diaz and Jorge Marron, all by stoppage.
Prediction…
Big things have been expected of both Curiel and Rocha and they should now be entering their prime. The first meeting was one of the best fights of the year with non-stop back and forth action and the draw was a reasonable decision. Rocha took a bit of a beating from Giovani Santillan as he was dropped three times but showed a hell of a lot of heart in that fight though and bounced back well with his win over Fredrick Lawson. However he took a lot of punishment from Curiel as well so he’s been in a couple of wars now. He knows all about Curiel’s power, skills and relentlessness and once again needs to let his hands go as much as possible while depending on his chin and body to hold out. Like the first fight and the odds here, I’m undecided on a winner as it could go either way and another draw is a possibility. This is Rocha’s first fight since that contest though and I have a feeling that Curiel will remain undefeated with a close win.
Curiel’s aggressiveness and power could edge Rocha.
Play: Curiel -115 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Alexis Rocha betting • Raul Curiel betting