Miguel Berchelt will defend his WBC junior lightweight title against Jonathan Barros, Saturday night, in his hometown of Merida, Mexico. Several hundreds of miles to the northwest, his mandatory contender Miguel “Mickey” Roman will stay busy, waiting for his opportunity to fight for the world title.

Roman will fight unbeaten but untested Michel Marcano, of Venezuela, in a 12-round bout at the Feria de Juarez, in his hometown of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The fight will air live throughout Mexico on Televisa.

Roman (59-12, 46 knockouts) is coming off a fourth round TKO victory over Aristides Perez on February 10. The fight came two months after Roman scored one of the biggest victories of his 15-year career, dropping Orlando Salido three times, en route to a ninth round stoppage victory.

The 32-year-old Roman has won three straight bouts since his 12th round knockout loss to Takashi Miura, on January 28 of last year.

Should both fighters notch victories Saturday night, as expected, THE RING’s No.1-ranked junior lightweight Berchelt is to defend his title against Roman, later this year. Promociones del Pueblo promotes Roman, while Berchelt (33-1, 29 KOs) is promoted by Zanfer Promotions.

Roman is ranked No. 6 by THE RING.

In his most recent outing, on May 26, Marcano (17-0-1, 14 KOs) stopped overmatched Alfix Aguana, in round one, in Marcano’s hometown of Barcelona.

Marcano’s fight against Roman will mark his first time facing a fighter with a winning record. This will also be Marcano’s first time fighting outside Venezuela.

Diana Laura Fernandez (17-2, 4 KOs), who also resides in Ciudad Juarez, will face Colombia’s Olga Julio (26-17-2, 19 KOs) in a 10-round junior bantamweight bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

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