The Super Bantamweight division appears to be a bit of a sleeping division. Guillermo Rigondeaux's victory earlier this year over Nonito Donaire has created an almost untouchable #1. The rest of the pack behind the Cuban create all seem to be playing for the #2 role in the division, a position seems pretty attainable after how human Donaire has been made to look in a number of recent bouts.
One of those men looking to be the division's #2 is Nehomar Cermeno who recently defeated Oscar Escandon in a competitive bout for the WBA interim title, another is IBF champion Jhonathan Romero (23-0, 12) who looks to make the first defense of his belt this weekend.
The talented 26 year old Colombian, who already holds victories over Chris Avalos, Efrain Esquivias and Alejandro Lopez, is one of the front runners to the #2 position thanks to those notable victories.
Unlike many Colombian's Romero isn't a big puncher. He's can hit hard though he's not going to suddenly blast anyone out. Instead he's amongst the new breed of Colombian fighters, the ones that have been taught how to box, how to use his feet and how to counter. He's not the smoothest at it but he is a capable boxer who knows how to take care of himself in the ring.
One trait that Romero does have like many of his compatriots is his ability to look freakish at the weight. Despite fighting at 122lbs Romero stands just shy of 5'10 with long arms and legs. In terms of his height he'd be around 5" taller than the aforementioned Rigondeaux and an inch taller than Shingo Wake, another freaky looking Super Bantamweight. This can mean that when Romero gets his jab going he's very difficult to get close to.
If you're looking for weaknesses in Romero he does have a few. He's been down against both Avalos and Cecilio Santos, so he's not got a chin of steal, he can be hit and drops his hands more than he maybe should. He can also give away his size and more worryingly he can also have real lulls in his activity which can make rounds a lot closer than they should be. At his best however he's a really good boxer capable of fighting on the front foot or the back foot with very little problem.
Romero's opponent Spanish banger Kiko Martinez (28-4, 20) a man who really should not be getting a world title opportunity and is very fortunate that Carl Frampton's career seems to have fallen apart outside of the ring.
Martinez is a fighter well known to British and Irish fans after introducing himself to us by stopping the then unbeaten Bernard Dunne inside a round for the European Super Bantamweight title back in 2007.
It's been just less than 6 years since Martinez stopped Dunne though since then he has been beaten by Rendall Munroe, twice, Takalani Ndlovu and most recently Frampton, who stopped Martinez in the 9th round earlier this year.
Although on paper Martinez's record is an impressive looking one though when you consider his best victories have come over Dunne and a shop worn Jason Booth its hard to really take him as a legitimate challenger for a world title. Around European level he's a real handful and is a 3-time European champion against the fringe world level guys however he can be made to look one dimensional and has shown questionable stamina late.
Although Romero has been dropped twice he's likely to have scouted Martinez well and will know the Spaniard can bang. He'll also be aware that Martinez is predictable in the ring, he's got one gear "forward" and can be out boxed very easily by a clever fighter.
With that in mind I really can't see this as being anything but a show case for Romero's talents. The Colombian should be using his frame to his his advantage, jabbing and moving, catching Martinez as he comes forward and getting out of range before Martinez can land anything. If he does that there really is no way he loses his title.
Prediction-UD12 Romero.
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