Mendez Eyes Yuriorkis Gamboa, Rocky Martinez Bouts

By Ryan Burton

Newly crowned IBF super featherweight champion Argenis Mendez paid a recent visit to The Boxing Lab, BoxingScene.com's official audio show. Mendez spoke about  his victory over Juan Carlos Salgado that took place this past Saturday in Southern California. Mendez had lost a controversial decision to Salgado in 2011 and was ecstatic to have righted what many felt was a bad decision.

"I am very happy. I feel very good with the performance I put on. To me it was like another challenge. I went to Mexico and thought I would win. I'm not saying they aren't fair or are fair but I thought I won the fight. It was a difficult fight (the first time) and I trained hard to make sure I would get the win this time," Mendez explained. 

The Dominican fighter said that he was very confident he would win the rematch.  He said that he trained with intentions of scoring a knockout and that it all came together. He dominated the fight from the opening bell all way till the referee stopped it early in the 4th round.

"I had all the confidence in the world leading into the fight. I planned on going in there and destroying him. I am a confident fighter. I'm not cocky but I'm confident in myself," said Mendez.

Mendez said that he couldn't pick a winner in the April 6th clash between WBO super featherweight champion Rocky Martinez and undefeated challenger Diego Magdaleno. He wants to defend his title at home in the Dominican Republic and also has his sights set on facing Yuriorkis Gamboa and Martinez (provided he beats Magdaleno) before he moves up to the lightweight division. 

"That's a good fight between those guys.  I would like to fight Rocky Martinez. To me either guy can win. I can't pick a winner.  I would also would like to fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa," Mendez told us on The Boxing Lab.

"I want to defend my title in my country before anything and I really want to fight Gamboa. Eventually I will want to move up to 135. I don't really know when. It could be the end of this year or maybe next year," he continued.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety by clicking here:
http://t.co/uNHS2Q6bQS

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to The Boxing Lab, BoxingScene's official audio on Tuesdays. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton