By Miguel Rivera
Promoter Peter Rivera of Puerto Rico Best Boxing has confirmed BoxingScene.com's recent report that WBO super featherweight champion Roman "Rocky" Martinez (27-1, 16KOs) is leaning away from fighting Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia - and switching his focuse to possible fights with Yuriorkis Gamboa and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Argenis Mendez.
Mendez (21-2, 11 KO's) will defend his crown on the 23rd of August at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York against Arash Usmanee. Gamboa does not have a fight in line, and Mikey Garcia is coming back in November. Rivera plans to discuss Martinez's future at the WBO convention in Budapest, Hungary - taking place from August 26th to the 30th.
"Our company wants to continue developing Rocky and keep increasing his popularity both in Puerto Rico and the United States. We are going over some plans and we've discussed the possibility of fights with Mikey Garcia and even the Gamboa. Although there are many ideas, one of the deals that is striking to us is a fight with Argenis Mendez. His handlers made an offer and we are reviewing it," Rivera told Carlos Narvaez.
“To fight on HBO, [dates are] available in November and December. We are going to discuss what Rocky is going to do next when we go to the convention of the WBO. We want to even do a fight between Rocky and Mikey, but everything will depend on the [terms]. It is necessary to remember that Mikey is not a big name right now. In his first defense he failed to make the weight, and his two [biggest] victories were against fighters who were [on their way out]."
