Remembering Boxer Nazareth Rojas
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By Daniel Sisneros
After a successful amateur boxing career going 30-15, and earning him the nickname “The Body Stopper” because of his dedicated body attack in some of his bouts, Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Nazareth Rojas turned professional on August 8th, 1998. He dropped a 4 round unanimous decision to hard punching fellow Albuquerque fighter – Raul Garcia.
He won his next fight against another hard punching oopponent, Colorado’s Art Cruz. That fight took place in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Naz was 1-1 now as a pro, but had to go on the road for 3 of his next 4 fights, traveling to Boise, Idaho, and twice to Denver to get fights. He went 1-3 in that tough stretch. He did stop Julian Romero by DQ in round 5 during that stretch, that fight took place in Alamogordo, NM. But lost a decision in his rematch with Art Cruz, this time up in Denver.
Rojas (left) in his pro debut – Albuquerque, NM
His record now stood at 2-4. This is when things started to go in the right direction. Oct. 23, 1999 Naz faced fellow New Mexican Lorenzo Estrada at the Ice-o-Plex arena in Rio Rancho, NM. The bout was a tough one that ended in a majority draw with 2 of the judges scoring the bout 57-57, while judge Levi Martinez saw it 58-56 in favor of Rojas. Just about two weeks later, the two would meet again, this time at Robertson Gymnasium in Las Vegas, NM on the undercard of an event that featured two rising New Mexico stars – Frankie Archuleta, and Andres Fernandez. It was a determined Rojas that stopped Estrada in round 4 of a bout set for 6 rounds. It was a spirited fight with both guys landing some bombs, while Estrada’s heart showed, in the end Rojas’ superior boxing skills and power won out.
Rojas won 2 of his next 3 fights, and then stepped away from the sport for a 10 year stretch. He was 5-5-1 at the time.
Nazareth Rojas returned to the ring March 31, 2012 to face fellow New Mexico favorite – Jeremiah “The Jet” Torres in a bout fought at the Jr. Middleweight limit of 154 Lbs. It was 14 pounds north of the 140 that Rojas had last fought 9 1/2 years earlier. He hadn’t lost a step, and looked impressive as he won a solid unanimous decision over his in-state rival.
Naz fought just twice more after that, losing a decision in Longmont, Colorado, and then his final pro bout on July 27, 2012 at age 32, where he dropped a decision to Las Vegas, NM’s Arturo Crespin (6-2-1, 2 ko) in a bout staged at the Wool Warehouse in Albuquerque.
Nazareth “The Body Stopper” Rojas ended his professional boxing campaign with a final record of: 6 wins, 7 defeats, and 1 draw, winning 2 by knockout.
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