Despite fighting for the same promoter and on the same circuit, Xavier Martinez and Rolando Romero have only shared one card prior to this weekend yet seem to enjoy a friendly rivalry.
The pair of unbeaten prospects will appear in separate bouts on Friday’s live telecast of Showtime’s ShoBox card, both vowing to steal the show at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sacramento’s Martinez (14-0, 10KOs) headlines the card, as he faces Jessie Cris Rosales (22-3-1, 10KOs) in a scheduled 10-round junior lightweight main event. Locally born and bred Romero (9-0, 8KOs) makes his Showtime televised debut in a supporting bout, colliding with Juan Carlos Cordones in a lightweight bout scheduled for six rounds.
Neither plan to stick around that long, nor allow themselves to be upstaged by the other.
“I know I’m gonna knock this muthaf----- out,” Romero (9-0, 8KOs) assured BoxingScene.com of his clash with Dominican Republic’s Cordones, whose lone loss came in his last fight but outside his normal weight class. “I talk a lot, but I always back it up. That’s why I ask for these tough challenges, so I can show I’m good as I say and not just let it be talk.
“I know Xavier is going to bring it, he’s a strong fighter and can crack. But he’s the main event, so it’s my job to steal the show.”
Romero has backed up nearly all of his boasts to date. The 24-year old Las Vegas native has knocked out all but one career foe to date, the one distance fight resulting in his winning every round.
Of his eight knockouts, all but one have ended in two rounds or less. His most recent went the deepest of the lot, demolishing Andres Figueroa in the 4th round of their April clash which made the live feed of an FS1-televised undercard.
Martinez comes in having knocked out his last six opponents, including a two-round stoppage on an Oct. 20187 show in San Francisco that saw Romero dust off his opponent in the same amount of time. The 22-year old rising prospect left fans abuzz in a 5th round stoppage win on the undercard of Mayweather Promotions stablemate Gervonta Davis’ first televised main event this past February.
Two months later came his own network debut in a 3rd round knockout of John Vincent Moralde on an April Shobox card loaded with prospects but where his performance stood out among the televised tripleheader. In his first fight as a televised headliner, Martinez enters well aware of the target on his back—across the ring and on the undercard.
“We’re all stablemates, it’s our job to want to steal the show from one another and look the best,” Martinez notes to BoxingScene.com, laughing off Romero’s comments. “This fight is a nice step up for me, (Rosales) has been in there with a former world champion (Jhonny Gonzalez) and Shakur (Stevenson) who just won the world title.
“I’m not going to worry too much about trying to outdo anyone else on the card. I’m focused on outdoing my opponent and letting my performance speak for itself. Every time I fight, I wind up stealing the show. This is my first one being the main event on TV, so that’s enough motivation to want to be at my best. I like the competition, everyone goes in there wanting to win.
“That’s what I’m prepared for, and that’s how you know I’m going to be at my best (on Friday).”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
