Freudis Rojas hopes to capitalize on a new opportunity.

Rojas will face Diego Sanchez in the opening bout of the Showtime Championship Boxing telecast Saturday night, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) announced Wednesday afternoon.

The 10-round welterweight bout will take place at the Chelsea Ballroom inside The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and will precede the main event bout between undefeated lightweights Frank Martin and Artem Harutyunyan (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

The Rojas-Sanchez was originally scheduled to take place in preliminary action, but was moved up to the Showtime telecast after the previously announced clash between Nonito Donaire and Alejandro Santiago will now take place on the undercard of the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight on July 29.

Rojas (10-0, 10 knockouts), who resides in Las Vegas, had an accomplished amateur career, including winning the bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships and was an alternate on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team.

The 24-year-old made his pro debut in January 2021 and has fought often in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica, including fighting twice in less than a two-week stretch in May 2021. In his last bout on February 25, Rojas stopped journeyman Gilbert Venegas in the opening round.

Recently, Rojas signed a promotional deal with Sampson Lewkowicz, who believes Rojas is the goods and can make noise in the talent-rich welterweight division.

“Freudis Rojas will be a star in the welterweight division and more,” said Lewkowicz. “This young Mexican-American has the team and the experience, power, and skills to move quickly up the ladder to a world championship, and I am proud to be able to help him get there.”

Sanchez (19-2, 16 KOs), who is originally from Tijuana, Mexico and now resides in San Diego, California, has not fought since a knockout win over journeyman Daniel Valenzuela in December 2021.

Prior to the win over Valenzuela, Sanchez suffered back-to-back losses to Luis Hernandez Ramos and Jesus Madueno Angulo, both of whom were unbeaten entering the Sanchez fight.

Also on the Showtime telecast will be a 10 round junior welterweight bout between Elvis Rodriguez (14-1-1, 12 KOs) of the Dominican Republic and former world titleholder Viktor Postol (31-4, 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 at [email protected]

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