Tomas Rojas to fight Evans Mbamba before his date with Darchinyan

Tomas Rojas has decided to take a risky October 24 fight with undefeated Evans Mbamba ahead of his December fight on Showtime with Vic Darchinyan, a surprising move that may well not pay off.

Rojas (31-11-1, 22 KO) has been seen by most as a rebound opponent for Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26 KO), who is coming off of a loss to Joseph Agbeko in a step up to bantamweight. Back at junior bantamweight, Darchinyan is the heavy favorite, but Rojas is a fairly live dog, too, a good scrapper who would have a three-inch height advantage.

This new bout is also no easy fight for Rojas. Mbamba (16-0, 8 KO) is a South African who knocked out Devid Lookmahanak in the seventh round last December, his last bout. Lookmahanak is best known as an opponent for Jorge Arce in one of his "pad the record" periods, with Arce being awarded a decision disputed by many.

Not only isn't an easy fight for Rojas, but it's dangerous even if he wins. A bad cut or any minor injury could knock him out of the December 12 fight, and leave Darchinyan and promoter Gary Shaw searching for new opponent on short notice.

The Rojas-Mbamba fight will take place in Veracruz, Mexico. Should Rojas come out of it the winner and uninjured, Darchinyan-Rojas will be a co-feature on Showtime's December 12 card main evented by the Timothy Bradley-Lamont Peterson 140-pound title fight.