On Monday, April 28, 2014, Michael “The Artist” Perez (20-1, 10 KOs) and Jorge “Koky” Romero (24-8, 21 KOs) headlined a Golden Boy Live card live from Bayamon, Puerto Rico which aired on Fox Sports 1/Fox Deportes.
The 10-round bout was for Perez’s WBA Fedelatin Super Lightweight title and was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and PR Best Boxing.
The Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez provided an exciting atmosphere for the night’s action and Perez had a nice fan base cheering him on as he faced a rugged Mexican in Romero.
Though he’s come up short in big fights before, Romero does have experience facing top fighters such as Danny Garcia and Pablo Cesar Cano so Perez was not in against an unskilled fighter by any means.
Round 1 was tactful for both men with Perez landing the more effective punches, particularly a hard left hook to the head which was setup by a jab downstairs.
Rounds 2 and 3 brought more of the same from Perez who worked effectively behind a sturdy jab. Though Romero made it his mission to push forward and try to pressure Perez, “The Artist” would have none of it as he kept Romero off balance.
Perez continued to control the pace of the fight in Round 4, showing off more jabs, which set up the most telling blow up to that point which was a hook to the body.
The hook clearly hurt Romero who immediately began to back up to the ropes, allowing Perez to land a few more key shots.
Perez lands nice body shot hurts Romero #Boxing #GoldenBoyLive pic.twitter.com/hQXxICpnvX
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) April 29, 2014
In the next round, Perez showed an impressive demeanor as he didn’t push the issue even knowing Romero had been hurt.
Instead, he patiently stalked Romero, placing precise shots to the head and body.
Double and triple jabs with quick impactful right hands gave Perez a comfortable lead going into Round 8 when things got a little tricky.
It was in that round that Romero found the spark he needed when he landed his most effective punch—a right hand to the head of Perez.
Romero lands his best punch #Boxing #GoldenBoyLive pic.twitter.com/9RmTvMu2ow
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) April 29, 2014
Round 9 saw Romero trying to pour it on as Perez got on his bicycle and backed up to the ropes for much of the round.
Perez was either tired, a bit hurt or maybe even both, but the hard-nosed Mexican could not land anything of note to put his opponent down.
Round 10 was another three minutes of Romero trying to bully Perez, push him to the ropes and land punches-in-bunches.
To Romero’s credit, he listened to his corner when they told him to “go for it” at the end of Round 8—seemingly throwing their strategy out the window for a more simple pressure method.
With a few more rounds, Romero could have scored the knockdown he was desperately looking for, but alas the bell to end Round 10 sounded and Perez came away victorious with all three judges scoring the bout 98-92.
98-92 on all three cards @TheArtistPerez wins by UD against Jorge Romero #Boxing #GoldenBoyLive pic.twitter.com/EKH2KpSr7o
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) April 29, 2014
Perez vs. Romero was an entertaining bout and certainly a great way to kick off “The Moment” fight week.
