By Miguel Rivera
IBF super featherweight world champion Jose "Sniper" Pedraza (22-0, 12KOs) was ringside at the Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City last weekend, and watched good friend Roman "Rocky" Martinez lose his WBO championship by way of a brutal knockout at the hands of Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4KOs).
After watching the contest play out, Pedraza is very interested in facing the two-time Olympic gold medal winner.
Lomachenko's manager told BoxingScene.com over the weekend that his fighter is planning to have a single fight at super featherweight before chasing a world title at the lightweight limit of 135-pounds.
At the moment Pedraza is not scheduled to defend his belt and has no idea who his opponent will be. He was in action back in April when he won a twelve round decision over mandatory challenger Stephen Smith.
"Regarding my next fight my promoters have not told me anything," Pedraza said to Jose Sanchez. "I thought there would be more communication, but right now there is nothing on the calendar. But then I saw that fight (Lomachenko-Martinez), and it seems like an excellent idea to fight him. The only obstacle would be the money."
After Lomachenko won, Orlando Salido said he was not impressed because Martinez was weight-drained for the contest.
Pedraza agreed with Salido. He trained with Martinez and said his Puerto Rican countryman had a lot of trouble shaving off the last two pounds and never recovered after the weigh-in.
"He did not apply everything that we practiced in training. I think it was because of the weight. Those last two pounds were really bad for him to get off. He made the weight but he could not recover," Pedraza said.
"Lomachenko came exactly as we thought he would come, and exactly what he did was what we practiced. I tried to imitate him as much as possible. And honestly I think I did well. But Rocky could not execute in the fight what we practiced. (Lomachenko) has become more professional, more planted, with more waist movements."
