By Ian S Palmer
Former WBC Super Featherweight Champion Takashi Miura of Japan will be taking on Miguel Roman of Mexico in an intriguing 12-round matchup at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio California. The contest can be seen live in North America on HBO while fans in the UK can catch it on BoxNation. The southpaw Miura last fought in May and stopped Jimmy Borbon in the first round. Roman’s last fight was in July and he stopped Jerope Mercado in the third round. This bout has the potential to be one of the most exciting of 2017.
The 32-year-old Miura enters the ring with an impressive record of 30-3-2 with 23 Kos to his name. He’s fought 195 rounds since turning pro back in 2003. He stands just over 5-feet-6-inches tall and has a reach of 70 inches. Miura has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 66 per cent. He also has a good chin even though he’s been stopped twice in his three losses. Those defeats came to WBC Super Featherweight champ Francisco Vargas by ninth-round stoppage in a classic as well as being stopped after the eighth round against Takashi Uchiyama in 2011.
Miura also dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Yusuke Kobori in 2007. His two draws were against Yoshimitsu Yashiro in 10 rounds in 2009 and an eight-round affair in 2004 against Akinori Suzuki. Miura won the WBC Super Featherweight Title in 2013 with a ninth-round stoppage over Gamaliel Diaz. He defended it for times until losing it to Vargas in November of 2015. It’s going to be interesting to see how much the war against Vargas took out of him as Miura fought just once last year and went less than a round.
Roman is just 31 years old, but he’s already fought 67 bouts since turning pro at the age of 17 in 2003 and has 402 rounds of experience. He’s just over an inch shorter than Miura at 5-foot-5 and his reach is unlisted. Roman enters the contest with a record of 56-11 with 43 big Kos. He’s been stopped just once in his 11 losses so has a great chin. He also has good power with a knockout ratio of 64 per cent. And even though he’s been beaten 11 times, Roman is currently riding an 18-fight winning streak. His last loss came back in 2012.
Roman’s been beaten by the likes of Antonio DeMarco, Javier Fortuna, Jonathan Barros, Antonio Escalante, Miguel Beltran Jr., Fernando Beltran, Eduardo Escobedo, Jorge Solis, Genaro Garcia, Michael Domingo, and Dante Jordan. DeMarco was the only foe to stop him, back in 2012. Roman has wins over Edgar Puerta, Ricardo Castillo, Daniel Ponce DeLeon, Juan Carlos Salgado, Cesar Soto and Tyrone Harris. Roman is a fine boxer who likes to mix things up, but he’s usually fallen just short when stepping up in class.
Prediction…
Roman is at his best when he can lure his opponent into a brawl and that’s probably his best bet here. This should be a good fight, but a tough one to predict. If Miura’s chin can hold up then he has the best chance at winning by decision or possibly by late stoppage.
