ANTONIO ESCALANTE vs MIGUEL ROMAN

Solid action looks guaranteed in the main event on Friday Night Fights when Antonio Escalante meets Miguel Roman in a featherweight 10-rounder (made at a match weight of 126 pounds).

There is something of a local rivalry here. Escalante now lives in El Paso, TX, where the fight takes place, but he was originally from just across the border in Juarez, which is Roman’s hometown.

Escalante, shocked by veteran Mauricio Pastrana three years ago, has been consistently impressive since. He was powerful and exciting in crushing David Martinez, Mike Oliver and Gary Stark Jr. in consecutive fights and then gave a world-class display of boxing and punching when he outclassed Cornelius Lock last July.

Roman, a stocky, durable pressure fighter, fought well in the Boxeo Azteca featherweight tournament, losing by split decision to the unbeaten Miguel Beltran in the final. He made a highly favourable impression on Friday Night Fights last March when losing by split decision to the southpaw Fernando Beltran Jr. in an excellent fight.

Anyone who meets Roman can expect a long, hard fight. He likes to crowd his opponents, back them up and outwork them. Roman can be outsmarted and outboxed, but his tenacity will keep him in the fight against classier opponents.

If Escalante boxes and moves he should be able to win this fight clearly; if he gets drawn into exchanges it is likely to be tougher. Roman is going to be taking it to him all night, but I think that Escalante has matured and improved since the wild fight with Pastrana, in which he scored a knockdown but got caught himself. I think Escalante will be too fast and too talented for Roman, and I’m expecting him to win on points after an entertaining contest.