Miguel “Mickey” Roman returns to the ring Saturday night and the Mexican boxer-puncher’s confidence will be soaring.

Roman, who is rated No. 8 by THE RING at 130 pounds, has been a long-time contender who scored the biggest victory of his career to date on Dec. 9, dropping Orlando Salido three times en route to a ninth-round technical knockout.

Tonight, the 32-year-old veteran faces Aristides Perez at the Gimnasio Municipal ‘Jose Neri Santos’ in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The 10-round bout will air live throughout Mexico on Televisa.

Having turned professional in 2003, Roman (58-12, 45 knockouts) has twice challenged for world honors, losing both times (at featherweight and lightweight).

Following the Salido triumph, however, Roman was installed as mandatory challenger for WBC 130-pound titleholder Miguel Berchelt, who defends against Maxwell Awuku in Cancun this evening.

Perez (31-10-2, 17 KOs), who resides in Cartagena, Colombia, stopped overmatched Alex Barrios in four rounds on Oct. 28. In his prior outing, he was stopped by Salido in seven.

Also on the Promociones del Pueblo card, flyweight contender Diana Fernandez (16-2, 3 KOs) will face Noemi Bosques (11-10-2, 3 KOs) in a 10-round bout.

Francisco A. Salazar can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing

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