Rocky Martinez will defend his World Boxing Organization super featherweight title against Mikey Garcia in HBO's "World Championship Boxing" on November 9th at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
But while Martinez is the defending champion and has made waves in different weight divisions, the spotlight seems to focus on his challenger.
The 30-year-old Puerto Rican champion expressed disappointment, saying that he should be the favorite heading into their world title showdown on Saturday.
"I feel that I should be the favorite," Martinez said in an interview with Keith Idec of Boxingscene. "I am the champion. I'm the naturally bigger guy. I'm strong. I've prepared myself well and I feel I'm going to win this fight because of that."
Martinez secured the WBO super featherweight title with a split-decision victory over Miguel Beltran in September last year. The Vega Baja native defended his title for the first time against Juan Carlos Burgos last January that ended in a split draw, but he bounced back with a split decision win over Diego Magdaleno in April.
Garcia, on the other hand, lost his WBO featherweight title on the scales in June, but he still managed to run away with a technical knockout victory over Juan Manuel Lopez to keep his record unblemished in 32 fights.
Garcia, who will be fighting at the 130-pound division for the first time in his career, promised to live up to expectations, saying that he has prepared hard for one of the biggest fights of his career knowing that Martinez will not be an easy opponent.
"I feel I'm the smarter guy," Garcia said. "I feel I'm just as strong. I'm faster. The possibility of me winning is very high. I know it's not an easy fight, not an easy fight at all. I know how strong he is and that he comes to fight and win. But that's why I worked so hard and why I probably had the best training of my life."
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