Byron Hasael Rojas Hernandez (born 23 June 1990) is a

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the WBA minimumweight title in 2016.

Career

Rojas took up boxing after being bullied in his teenage years. He was first trained by Roger Rivas. He became an amateur national champion before turning professional. Rojas drew three times in his first ten fights, and he also lost two bouts around that time, both by

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

. Rojas won his first regional title, the Nicaraguan minimumweight title, on 30 November 2013, with a unanimous decision win over Jose Aguilar. Rojas defended his title on 22 August 2015, defeating Byron Castellón in a wide unanimous decision (98-93, 97–93, 97–92). On his next fight, Rojas would go on to face WBA and IBO minimumweight champion

Hekkie Budler Hector "Hekkie" Budler (born 18 May 1988) is a South African professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBO and WBA minimumweight titles between 2011 and 2016 and the unified WBA (Super), IBF, and ''Ring'' magazine ...

in Kempton Park. Budler was considered a wide favourite prior to the fight, but Rojas won a close fight marred by headbutts via unanimous decision (115-113, 115–113, 115–113). Only the WBA title was at stake, but Budler was stripped of his IBO title after the loss. The WBA then ordered a match-up between Rojas interim champion

Knockout CP Freshmart Thammanoon Niyomtrong ( th, ธรรมนูญ นิยมตรง, born 20 September 1990), known by his ring name Knockout CP Freshmart, is a Thai professional boxer and former Muay Thai fighter who has held the WBA (Super) mini-flyweig ...

in April 2016. The fight took place on 29 June in

Khon Kaen Khon Kaen ( th, ขอนแก่น, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, also known as the "big four of Isan", the others being Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Ubon Ratchathani. It is the capital of Khon Kaen province and ...

. The fight was widely considered boring, as Knockout clinched through most of the fight to no warning from the referee. Nevertheless, he won the fight by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(115-113, 115–113, 115–113) to unseat Rojas. After losing the world title, Rojas stringed eight wins together, all of them in Nicaragua, and joined trainer Wilmer Hernández. Rojas was named as the WBA's

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

, and a rematch between Knockout CP Freshmart and Rojas was signed for 28 November 2018. Knockout won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 115–113, 117-111 and 116–112.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* Living people Nicaraguan male boxers World Boxing Association champions Mini-flyweight boxers World mini-flyweight boxing champions 1990 births {{Nicaragua-boxing-bio-stub