Additional charges have been filed against Jesus M. Rojas as he remains in a Caguas prison.

The former interim featherweight titlist was formally charged with physical and verbal threat and restriction of freedom in connection with an alleged June 23 incident involving a Caguas nutrition store owner. Rojas appeared in the Court of Caguas before judge Ingrid Caro Cobb, who ruled that there was cause for arrest after the alleged victim’s testimony during a prior Rule 6 hearing and set the boxer’s bail at $15,000. The charges are classified as misdemeanors though it comes on top of felony charges already filed against Rojas, stemming from a domestic violence incident also on June 23.

It remains unclear if the store occurred before or after what reportedly took place in his Caguas home for which he presently faces multiple charges. The store owner testified during a Rule 6 hearing held this week that the boxer broke into her establishment, verbally and physically assaulted her before threatening to rape and kill her.

An investigation conducted by Caguas’ Criminal Investigation Corps (CIC) includes security camera video evidence secured along with several field interviews. All were shared with the prosecuting attorney overseeing the case, which has now produced additional criminal charges against the deeply troubled ex-boxer.

Rojas was previously charged on June 24 with two counts of violating Puerto Rico’s Law 54—Domestic Abuse Prevention and Intervention Act—after physically assaulting his partner with a deadly weapon and in the presence of minors also on June 23 in their Caguas home. He was additionally charged with four counts of child abuse, one count of lewd and lascivious acts against one of his daughters and one count of illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Bail for the charges filed on June 24 was set at $1,600,000, to which Rojas’ lawyers informed the court that he won’t come close to being able to post. As such, he will remain imprisoned until at least his next hearing.

The alleged incidents in question provide a horrific update in the life of the clearly troubled boxer, who has not fought since 2019.

A pro since 2006, Rojas rose to contender level in the featherweight division during the mid 2010s. Originally promoted by Javier Bustillo’s Universal Promotions, Rojas appeared on stateside shows by Top Rank earlier in the decade before linking up with Golden Boy Promotions. Rojas hit his career stride under his co-promotional arrangement with Golden Boy, including an interim WBA featherweight title winning seventh-round knockout over Claudio Marrero in September 2017.

Rojas suffered back-to-back losses to Joseph Diaz and Can Xu following the win over Marrero. However, he was able to retain his secondary title in the defeat to Diaz, who missed weight for their August 2018 featherweight title. He was not as fortunate in his January 2019 punch-a-thon with Xu. The two combined to throw 2,574 punches in their non-stop 12-round affair, though with Xu winning by surprisingly wide scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.

Rojas returned home for a May 2019 knockout win over Mexico’s Luis Castillo in what turned out to be his final bout to date and likely of his career given the serious nature of the charges he already faces and possibly with more to add to the pile. The pandemic limited gym use in Puerto Rico, with Rojas starting his own landscaping company and apparently doing well for himself in lieu of furthering his career although a comeback was eyed for later this fall.

Those plans are undoubtedly on hold as the only fight in Rojas’ future will be in a court of law to speak to multiple alleged crimes, for which his actions are inexplicable if true.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox