Fighting on the road is nothing new for "Speedy" Rashidi Ellis, a native of Lynn, Massachusetts, who fought his first four pro bouts in the greater Boston area but has been campaigning elsewhere since.
The undefeated welterweight has boxed six times in Puerto Rico, five times in the Dominican Republic, twice in California and once each in New York and Nevada.
Ellis's travels continue Friday, when he takes on Alberto "Metralleta" Mosquera in Cancun, Mexico. The scheduled 10-round bout is the main event of a Golden Boy on ESPN card at Grand Oasis Cancun.
"There's no special reason that we've been fighting in other countries. It just happened that way," said Ellis' trainer, Alex Rivera. "It doesn't bother us. We embrace it. It would be great for Rashidi to fight in Boston, but I'd rather it be a big fight when he does."
The 25-year-old Ellis, the brother of super middleweight prospect Ronald Ellis, enjoyed a solid amateur career, which included a gold medal at the 2012 National PAL championships.
After turning pro in July 2013 with a four-round decision over Josh Beeman, Ellis continued his winning ways against marginal opposition, but began to tackle tougher assignments in 2016.
Victories over Luis Hernandez, Eddie Gomez and John Karl Sosa certainly indicated that Ellis was steadily making progress. Going into the matches, the trio of opponents had a combined record of 45-4.
In his most recent fight, in April, Ellis knocked down Fidel Monterrosa five times en route to a fourth-round knockout win, raising his record to 19-0, with 13 KOs. It was arguably the most explosive performance of his career.
"I'm slick and surprising. You don't know when I'm coming," Ellis said when asked to describe his fighting style. "You don't know if I'm fighting inside or outside, and I've got good speed."
Mosquera, a four-time Panamanian Golden Gloves champion and member of Panama's national amateur team, began boxing at age 16, hoping to emulate his idol, Roberto Duran.
"Alberto's nickname is 'Metralleta,' which means 'Machine Gun,'" said Sergio Gonzalez, head of the company that promotes Mosquera. "It was given to him by a boxing journalist because of the way he throws his punches like a machine gun."
The 31-year-old Mosquera (25-3-2, 16 KOs) has bounced back and forth between welterweight and junior welterweight, but has fought at welterweight for his three most recent fights, all of which resulted in victory.
The Ellis fight will be Mosquera's third outside of his native Panama. He won a 12-round decision over previously undefeated Erick Bone in Ecuador and lost by knockout to Sammy Vasquez in his only fight in the United States.
"I saw a couple of videos of Ellis' fights," Mosquera said. "He is very good and has good hand speed, but I think he does not take a good punch."
It remains to be seen if Mosquera's evaluation is correct, particularly in the light of the fact that the lone knockdown Ellis suffered was against Hernandez, in a fight he came off the floor to win.
"I really don't know anything about Alberto Mosquera. I just know he's lefty," Ellis said. "I've probably fought like three or four lefties. I feel good about it."
In the co-feature, Cancun's Francisco "Panchito" Horta (17-3-1, 10 KOs) faces Ciudad Obregon's David "El Zamorito" Reyes (17-4-1, 6 KOs) in a junior featherweight match scheduled for eight rounds.
Horta did not get off to the best of starts when he turned pro in February 2011, losing two of his first four bouts. But since then, the 24-year-old Mexican has tallied a 15-1-1 record, including seven wins in a row leading up to the Reyes match. In his most recent fight, Horta twice knocked down Florentino Perez and won a unanimous decision.
"My style is to manage the distance and be offensive when I have the opportunity," Horta said. "We know David Reyes is a good boxer, but we will overcome our rival and have the victory."
Reyes turned pro in August 2012 with a draw and then proceeded to win 14 of his next 15 fights. His second loss came against former flyweight titleholder Hernan Marquez via split decision in September 2016.
In his most recent bout, Reyes suffered his third loss when Jesus Ahumada won a close but unanimous decision in an entertaining fight.
The 23-year-old Reyes's biggest problem is his lack of punching power, which has resulted in a paltry 29 percent knockout ratio. Nonetheless, he is very durable and has never been stopped.
In the TV opener between Mexican featherweights, Eduardo Nunez (10-0, 10 KOs) appears to be on his way to another victory when he meets light-punching Hiram Gallardo (6-2-1, 1 KO) in a scheduled six-rounder. Even so, in his previous fight, Gallardo held Joaquin Cruz (who had won 12 of 13 fights going in to the bout) to a draw.
Nunez is from Los Mochis, while Gallardo hails from Chetumal.