By Rey Colon
The president of the World Boxing Organization, Francisco 'Paco' Valcárcel, has ordered the junior lightweight champion of his organization, Roman "Rocky" Martinez (27-1, 16 KO's), to face undefeated Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27 KO's) on or before the end of October.
The ruling is odd and comes at an interesting time. Martinez-Garcia was being negotiated for November, but the champion was not happen with the money being offered and began to pursue bouts with Yuriorkis Gamboa and Argenis Mendez.
In his last three fights, Martinez face two contenders who were ranked in the top positions. According to the rules of the WBO itself, Martinez has nine months to make another mandatory defense and that term expires in January 2014.
In April Martinez defeated previously undefeated Diego Magdaleno (23-0, 9 KO's), who was ranked in the top spot, and three months earlier (January) he drew with Juan Carlos Burgos (30-1-2, 20 KO's), also ranked in the top spot at the time.
Garcia failed to make weight for his last fight, at 126, and has yet to have a single fight at 130-pounds.