Junior welterweights Elvis Rodriguez and Juan Jose Velasco will square off in a crossroads bout on March 26, it was announced Wednesday afternoon. The 10-round bout will take place at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota and will be the opening bout of a ‘Showtime Championship Boxing’ telecast (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).

The Rodriguez-Velasco bout replaces the clash between junior middleweight prospect Yoelvis Gomez and Mexico’s Jorge Cota after Gomez reportedly suffered a hand injury last week during training camp, forcing him to withdraw from the fight.

Rodriguez (12-1-1, 11 knockouts), who is originally from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and now lives and trains in Los Angeles, dropped unbeaten Juan Pablo Romero twice en route to a fifth-round knockout win. The win over Romero took place over five months after suffering his first defeat as a pro at the hands of Kenneth Sims. The loss to Simms marked Rodriguez’s last fight with Top Rank.

Now fighting under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner, Rodriguez hopes to find success in a very competitive 140-pound division. Standing in his way is Velasco, who Rodriguez hopes brings his best in what could be a competitive fight.

“March 26 is another step toward my world championship goal,” said the 26-year-old Rodriguez, who is trained by Freddie Roach. “I am facing a tough veteran fighter who has faced top-level competition. I’ve stayed in camp through Christmas so that I can be 100 percent for this fight. Winning on March 26 means a lot for my career and I hope that a win will put me in contention for a title shot this year. I want to show the world that I’m ready for the big names in the division.”

Velasco (23-2, 14 KOs) has won his last three bouts since losing back-to-back fights by knockout to Regis Prograis and Mario Barrios in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He defeated Zachary Ochoa by split-decision in his last bout on February 20 of last year.

With momentum on his side, Velasco, who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hopes to carry that into his fight against Rodriguez, where a convincing win puts him back in the mix amongst those at 140 pounds.

“(March 26) is actually the second time that I’ve been preparing to face Rodriguez, so I know what I’m up against,” said Velasco, who is promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz. “He’s going to come into the fight at 100 percent, just like I will. May the best man win on March 26.”

In the main event, unbeaten junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs) of Australia, who is ranked No. 5 by The Ring, will face Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) of Los Angeles in a 12-round bout.

Rounding out the telecast will be a compelling 10-round fight between unbeaten lightweight Michel Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs) and Joseph Adorno (14-0, 12 KOs)

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing