Jesus Rojas captured the interim WBA featherweight title last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, knocking out Claudio Marrero at the end of the seventh round on a wicked left hook.

Official time of the stoppage was 2:59 of round seven.

“I’m super happy and super emotional,” said Rojas (26-1-2, 19 KO). “I want to thank Roberto Diaz and the entire Golden Boy team, my family and my kids. This is the joy of many years of sacrifice and many fights that have been taken from me. I promised my father that I would get a title one day, and even though he is no longer with us, my promise to him is complete. We knew that [Marrero] was going to be aggressive and we purposely worked on our counterpunching, and that was what did the trick.”

Marrero (22-2, 16 KO) was defending the interim belt, which he won on April 29 against Carlos Zambrano with a first round knockout.

The WBA’s need for an interim champion in the division is questionable at best, as they also have a “super champion,” Leo Santa Cruz, and a “world champion,” Abner Mares, both of whom are in action in separate fights on October 14.