'Monster' eyes world conquest

Featherweight Xu wants to 'win for China' in Saturday's title challenge

When a fighter is nicknamed 'Monster', you assume he's a hulking heavyweight-perhaps combining the massive musculature of Anthony Joshua with the steely stare of Deontay Wilder and the lethal ferocity of Mike Tyson.

Not in this case

Xu Can - aka 'Monster' - is a baby-faced featherweight from Suzhou, Jiangsu province. His 126 pounds are spread sparsely over a 5-foot-9 frame, and his hands look better suited for a pianist than a puncher.

But looks can be deceiving.

On Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the 24-year-old Xu (15-2, 2 KOs) will attempt to wrest the title from hammer-fisted WBA world champion Jesus Rojas (26-2-2, 19 KOs) of Puerto Rico in the co-main event to a super welterweight title defense by Mexico's Jamie Mungia against Japanese challenger Takeshi Inoue.

With two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming unofficially retired, undefeated heavyweight contender Zhang Zhilei (20-0) taking an extended break and former WBC world strawweight champ Xiong Chaozhong winding down his career at age 36, Xu has emerged as the new face of pro boxing in China.

A deceptively quick and accurate puncher, Xu stepped into the global spotlight last fall in his first fight in North America, pounding out a split decision in an eight-round slugfest with former Mexican champ Enrique Bernache (24-11-1) in Las Vegas.

Xu's gutsy effort caught the eye of matchmakers at Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, who signed him for Saturday's headliner. Still, champion Rojas represents a huge step up for Xu, who has boxed 136 pro rounds compared to the Mexican's 148.

"It is my dream to win a world title for China but in order to do that I must beat a very experienced champion who will be fighting close to his home and in front of a big crowd of supporters," Xu told boxinginsider.com when the bout was finalized in November. "I know I will have to train harder than at any time of my career to this point, but I will not waver."

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Rojas told boxingscene.com he isn't taking any chances.

"My last two opponents were southpaws, so this fight is a bit of an adjustment," said the champ, who is two inches shorter than Xu.

"We've been working a lot on the jab, punching to the liver area; also working on my head movement and lateral shifts. What changed primarily was going back to orthodox sparring partners.

"I want to make sure that I win impressively, but you have to be careful with what you're doing with a guy like Xu. He's tall and strong and he's coming in with a hunger to be on the front pages of world boxing."

In his last outing, Rojas dropped a unanimous decision to California's Joseph Diaz in August. It was scheduled as a title fight, but because Diaz weighed a pound over the 126-pound limit he lost the opportunity to be crowned champion.

"I learned a lot from the Diaz fight, and I'm ready to show my head movement and an improved game plan against Xu," said Rojas.

"He's a hungry lion who wants to be champ, and he will have the whole country of China supporting him against me. It's huge.

"I want to show that I'm one of the best in the world, and we're looking for title unification fights against the rest of the best. So after about six rounds, I predict that I will end this fight by knockout."

PUNCH LINES: Tianjin's Xiang Jing captured the WBC silver light flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Thailand's Suriyan Satorn at the Suzhou Olympic Center in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Jan 5. Xiang improved to 16-4-2 and is now world-ranked …Shijiazhuang flyweight Ge Wenfeng was handed a three-month suspension by the Professional Boxing Commission of China after being knocked out by Filipino contender Giemel Magramo on the Suzhou card. It was Ge's first loss in 12 pro fights … Unbeaten heavyweight Zhang 'Dragon King' Junlong (19-0) of Qingdao, Shandong province, is scheduled to fight outside of China for the first time on March 1 at the Melbourne Pavilion in Australia. His opponent has not been announced.