Roman Martinez to return March 29

Roman “Rocky” Martinez, a three-time WBO super featherweight titleholder, will break a long layoff when he returns to the ring on March 29 in Puerto Rico, PR Best Boxing has announced.

Martinez, 36, will be fighting for the first time since his June 2016 knockout loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko. The comeback bout will be a 10-round fight at lightweight. It was reported shortly after the loss to Lomachenko that Martinez had intended to move up, as he was struggling to make 130. But time passed and he didn’t fight. In 2018, he was said to be making a comeback in Colombia, but then did not.

Martinez (29-3-3, 17 KO) won his first world title a decade ago, in March 2009, when he went to Manchester and stopped Nicky Cook in the fourth round. He made a pair of successful defenses at home in Puerto Rico before going to Glasgow in Sept. 2010, where he lost the belt to Ricky Burns.

Two years later, Martinez beat Miguel Beltran Jr for the vacant WBO belt. He went to a draw with Juan Carlos Burgos in Jan. 2013, then defeated Diego Magdaleno in April before Mikey Garcia knocked him out in the eighth round of a Nov. 2013 fight.

In April 2015, he got another shot at the belt, and defeated Orlando Salido via decision in Puerto Rico in a terrific fight. They rematched in Sept. 2015, going to a draw on the Mayweather-Berto undercard. Nine months later, Martinez met Lomachenko, got knocked out violently, and hasn’t fought since.

We’ll have to see what Martinez has left. He’s getting up there in years and he hasn’t fought in a long time. I wouldn’t get too excited about his prospects going forward, honestly.

The March 29 card will also feature the return of super flyweight prospect Jeyvier Cintron (9-0, 4 KO), a two-time Puerto Rican Olympian.