Jose Roman (17-1-1, 12 KOs) of Garden Grove, Calif. goes against veteran Hector Velazquez (56-22-3, 38 KOs) of Tijuana, Mex. in the 8-round “Path to Glory” main event. on Friday, Sept. 26, from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.
The Thompson Boxing Team recently paid a visit to Roman’s training camp at the Indio Boys & Girls Club in Indio, Calif. for an interview.
Let’s talk about the lightweight division. In your opinion, who are the top three lightweights, and what is it about their styles that sets them apart from the rest?
I think Omar Figueroa is one of the best. He and I share a trainer so I’ve become accustomed to sparring with him. He’s incredibly strong and has some serious punching power. You can definitely feel his punches. Miguel Vazquez and Mickey Bey are two others that I admire. Miguel gives everyone trouble and Mickey actually just beat him last week and now he’s a world champ. All three are extremely talented boxers.
Talk about your last fight with Luis Solis. You had to battle through an early set back. How much confidence is created from a come-from-behind win?
Solis is a heavy hitter and he timed me perfectly in the first round. I just picked myself up and kept fighting. After the first round I felt like I dominated the remaining rounds. It was tough to come back because you have to string four or five straight rounds of excellent boxing to even the scorecards. My corner was great in telling me to keep the pressure on and never stop being aggressive. It comes as a huge confidence booster because now I know how to handle adversity.
You’re about to enter your prime years. All professional boxers hope to challenge for a world title at some point in their careers, how much more seasoning do you need to feel comfortable in a fight that has world title ramifications?
Maybe next year I can be talked about as someone who can challenge for a world title. A lot of that is really up to my promoter, manager and trainer to see if it’s in my best interest to take on that huge challenge. In the meantime, I’ll just keep on fighting.
This will be your fourth fight training with Joel Diaz. What have you learned in the training camps and do you see yourself improving in every fight?
I’ve learned a great deal from Joel. He prepares me well for all the different styles that I have faced. He’s an excellent scout and knows how to prepare a game plan. In fights where we don’t have a great deal of tape on an opponent, he offers great in match advice and strategy, which helped me a lot during my fight with Solis.
Your opponent, Hector Velazquez, has fought top-shelf talent like Manny Pacquiao, Israel Vazquez, and Edwin Valero. He has more than 80 fights to his resume. You’ve never faced a boxer with that much experience. What kind of challenges does Velazquez present?
I’m sure he has a couple of tricks up his sleeve in terms of putting me in an awkward or dangerous position. We plan to fight smart and not let him get comfortable and do what he likes to do. Also, I have plenty of experience against top talent in that I spar with world champions like Omar Figueroa and I used to spar with former champ Julio Diaz so that’s going to help me a lot.
Outside of boxing, what does Jose Roman like to do?
I’m a family man. I spend a lot of my down time with my son. I try to be the best father I can be. We hang out; I take him to Disneyland and do other fun things with him. I’m also somewhat of a car buff in terms of getting underneath a hood and working on engines. I sometimes lose myself in that.
