Joshua Kevin Anton Beats Freudis Rojas By Unanimous Decision

A promising start by Freudis Rojas gave way to a prolonged struggle with Joshua Kevin Anton’s pace as the unbeaten contender retained his WBC Continental Americas super welterweight title by unanimous decision. The main event of Friday’s ProBox TV show at the Rawhide Western Town and Event Center in Chandler, Arizona, finished with scores of 98 to 91 twice and 97 to 92. Anton’s sustained attack carried him through ten rounds against an opponent who found openings early but could not maintain his effectiveness as the contest developed. The victory takes Anton to fifteen wins without defeat, while Rojas suffers his second successive loss.

The pairing brought together two unusually tall southpaws with different immediate ambitions. Anton, representing Palmdale, California, and proud of his Guatemalan heritage, was making his first appearance as a ProBox main event fighter. He entered with fourteen victories, twelve inside the distance, following a clear points success over the durable Vladimir Hernandez in July. Rojas, whose fifteen wins included eleven stoppages, needed to recover from his defeat by Damian Sosa in April. He had accepted this opportunity after an injury ruled out Anton’s original opponent, Yan Marcos. Anton stood six feet three inches, with Rojas only an inch shorter. Neither could expect the straightforward advantages of reach that such dimensions often provide against smaller opposition.

Rojas made the more accurate start. CompuBox credited him with more connections in each of the first three rounds, despite Anton throwing more punches in all three. That distinction mattered: the man advancing was not automatically doing the cleaner work. Anton began to overwhelm him after the third, however, and the fourth and fifth brought a marked increase in his output. He threw 121 punches in the fourth and 145 in the fifth, landing 21 and 29 respectively. Rojas managed only six connections in the fifth. Anton was establishing a pace which left the challenger increasingly occupied with responding.

There was no complete surrender from Rojas. His seventh round produced his highest number of connections, but he also lost a point for holding. Anton finished strongly, landing 31 punches in the ninth and another 30 in the last. Across the contest, CompuBox recorded Anton landing 193 of 1,078 punches against Rojas’s 123 of 519. Rojas was more accurate overall and landed substantially more body punches, 64 against 19, but Anton’s greater activity proved decisive. His attack was overwhelmingly directed upstairs.

The result adds another useful distance victory to Anton’s development. Hernandez had already obliged him to demonstrate more than the finishing power suggested by his record, and Rojas presented a different examination through his height, southpaw stance and technical background. A World Championships bronze medallist as an amateur, Rojas arrived with credentials which demanded respect. Yet the problem of dealing with sustained pressure had already appeared against Sosa. Another defeat leaves him needing to address how he preserves his boxing when an opponent refuses to let the exchanges settle into a comfortable rhythm. His early accuracy here offered encouragement, but it did not provide a lasting answer.

For Anton, the regional championship remains a means of advancing towards stronger company. He has followed his victory over Hernandez with another successful defence and kept his unbeaten record intact. The performance also leaves a clear technical consideration: he required considerable expenditure to secure his advantage, and his accuracy remains an area for improvement. Greater selectivity would make that work more economical against opponents capable of punishing the openings. For the present, however, Rojas could neither sufficiently discourage his attacks nor match their persistence. Anton finished with the title and a clear decision, having imposed the more demanding fight.

I thought Anton earned his win by making Rojas fight at a pace he couldn’t maintain. But let’s give Rojas his due early on. He found openings, caught Anton coming forward and did useful work to the body. That matters because marching forwards doesn’t automatically mean you’re winning. Anton was giving him chances, and a better defence needs to become part of his development.

What separated them was Anton’s ability to keep working after those exchanges. Rojas could land, but he couldn’t make Anton hesitate long enough to establish control. For me, that’s where his boxing fell short. A counter needs to buy you something: space, a change of angle, an opportunity to take command. If the other bloke immediately sets you working backwards again, you haven’t solved the problem.

I also think Anton made the finish harder to find by concentrating so heavily on the head. When an opponent is occupied with protecting himself upstairs, give him something different to defend. More variation downstairs would have made sense. His persistence was impressive; his punch selection still needs refining.

I’ve no argument with the unanimous decision. Rojas had enough technical ability to expose openings, but not enough sustained authority to exploit them. Anton imposed the harder fight and maintained his effort. That’s a useful quality, provided his team don’t mistake it for the finished article. Against stronger opposition, he’ll need to create those attacks while taking less punishment himself.