Will Rashidi Ellis Rematch Roiman Villa or Start Over?
If there were two words to describe the current state of welterweight Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis (24-1, 15 KOs), it would be shocked and pissed. It’s the result of his surprising majority decision defeat to Roiman Villa (26-1, 24 KO) on the undercard of Gervonta Davis – Hector Luis Garcia card in Washington DC.
Despite being knocked down twice in the twelfth and final round, Ellis felt he did enough to secure the victory. Many fans and pundits shared his sentiments and felt the verdict was controversial. But at the end of the day, it counts as a loss on his record.
CAN SPEEDY REBOUND?
The bout against Villa was an IBF eliminator. A win would have put Speedy in line for a match against unbeaten Jaron “Boot” Ennis, who won the IBF interim 147-pound title against Karen Chukhadzhian on the undercard of Davis – Garcia.
What’s most disappointing about Ellis’s loss is that he was formerly frustrated with periods of inactivity due to an outside-the-ring dispute with his ex-promoter, Golden Boy. Speedy signed with PBC in April 2022 and believed the fight against Villa would be his come-out party. Now, it’s back to the drawing board.
At this point, the best scenario would be to get an immediate rematch with Villa. During the post-fight interview, the Massachusetts native said he wants to fight him again. Given the controversial nature of the result, one would envision PBC staging a rematch between Ellis and Villa in either late Spring or early summer.
After years of being in the shadows while fellow contenders such as Ennis received most of the attention from fans, Ellis was hungry for his moment in the sun. At the very least, Speedy should be more motivated than ever.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
