For the second night in a row we get a title fight in the lighter weight divisions. Tonight on HBO it’s Vasyle Lomachenko (5-1, 3 KOs) goes for his second belt, the WBO World Super Featherweight title, taking on Roman Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The undercard is also for a belt, this time the WBO Latino Lightweight title. Juan Jose Martinez (25-2, 17 KOs) will fight undefeated Felix Verdejo (21-0, 14 KOs).
As always, scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from HBO.
Vasyl Lomachenko returns to action Saturday night in pursuit of his second title belt in as many weight classes when he meets Roman Martinez at Madison Square Garden on HBO Boxing After Dark at 10 PM ET/PT. Fed up of waiting on a much-mooted bout with Nicholas Walters, Lomachenko has taken what might now be called the Golovkin route: if someone won’t fight you, win as many belts as possible until they do.
Unlike Golovkin, though, Lomachenko is blessed with a welter of plausible opponents if Walters doesn’t want to dally. Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) is a seasoned pro with a raft of solid names on his record, including none other than Lomachenko’s one conqueror to date in Orlando Salido. Having lost to Ricky Burns after coming out perhaps too strong in the first round in 2010, Martinez has refused to let his career fizzle out. Even a knockout loss in 2013 to Mikey Garcia, who has all but disappeared since, has failed to derail him: Martinez came back to claim a third super featherweight title by knocking Salido down twice in May 2015 to win a decision.
Though Martinez isn’t even a third as refined a boxer as Lomachenko, much more a bruiser than anything, he’s a thoroughly genuine opponent with legitimate credentials of his own. And he might not necessarily need to be a world-class boxer either: Salido, very much a bruiser himself, was able to offset Lomachenko enough to eke a decision in the Ukrainian’s second fight.
Still, by the final rounds of their bout Salido had increasingly become the canvas for Lomachenko’s artwork many expected him to be. And even if Salido, fighting well overweight, did escape with the decision, Lomachenko still showed quite how much hurting his variety of pugilistic refinement can produce: while Salido was disproportionately bigger than Lomachenko on the night, his face in the aftermath, red and swollen, painted its own distinctive picture. Against a much smaller man with one previous professional bout on his record, the Mexican was taken to the deep end.
Felix Verdejo returns Saturday night when he meets Juan Jose Martinez at lightweight. Generally considered one of the top prospects in the division, Verdejo has been held back somewhat by a series of hand injuries, which required surgery last year. Though Martinez has only lost twice, distinguishing him from Verdejo’s last opponent, Saturday should be most interesting for seeing whether the Puerto Rican’s vaunted punching power can put much of a dent on his Mexican opponent. Top Rank, as history proves, has great experience in building Puerto Rican stars at Madison Square Garden. Expect Verdejo to take another small step toward becoming the next one on Saturday night.
The show is on HBO at 10 p.m. EST. Let’s watch it.
