By Miguel Rivera
The warrior of Ciudad Juarez, Miguel "Mickey" Roman (53-11, 40KOs) is motivated to close the rankings gap in order to secure a world title shot at newly crowned WBC super featherweight king Francisco "Bandido" Vargas (23-0-1, 17KOs).
Roman, ranked at #4 under the WBC, wants to pick up a few more wins to land a mandatory position against Vargas in the second half of this year.
Since suffering his decision loss to Dante Jardon in their 2012 rematch, Roman has built a 15 fight win streak with knockouts of former world champions Daniel Ponce De Leon and Juan Carlos Salgado. Last year, Roman fought five times and aims to have as many fights this year.
"As a fighter I know I'm getting close to a fight for the green and gold belt of the WBC, but to have every possible chance of being victorious against Vargas - I have to get at least two more wins and then yes, he might called the bandit but I'm going to steal his belt," Roman told Boxing Informa.
Vargas picked up the belt in November with a sensational knockout of Japan's Takashi Miura on Miguel Cotto-Saul Alvarez undercard.
Roman also said that he plans to meet with his promoter, Reginaldo Kuchle of Promociones del Pueblo, to finalize his next return date and opponent. He says a date of January 30th is still very likely.
There is some legal tension between Golden Boy Promotions, who have Vargas, and the promoter of Roman. The two sides are in a dispute over some fights that Golden Boy says they were owed by Jhonny Gonzalez. To get a shot at Vargas, Roman's best chance is to fight his way to the mandatory position.
