Jason Booth won't believe it's happened again.Nottingham's popular British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight champion had recently been put forward to box for the vacant European 8st 10lbs title, against hammer-fisted ex-monarch Kiko Martinez, and was set to secure home advantage.
But Booth, for the fourth time, will have to travel onto the Continent to try and secure a belt that has alluded him in a 15-year professional career.
Promoter Frank Maloney lost out in securing the purse bids in Rome, with the winning bid rumoured to be around 60,000 Euros. No date has been released as of yet.
Booth, who unsuccessfully boxed in Spain and twice in France for the Continental title in the past, knows the odds are stacked against him; Madrid-born Martinez has never been stopped, will be on home turf and carries the type of fight-ending power that worries the very best, even if Booth has never been stopped in a 42-fight career (36 wins, 15 early).
It appears to be a task of Everest-sized proportions, not that it appears to faze the charismatic East Midlander.
"It's not a problem," said the recent IBF world super-bantamweight title challenger, 33.
"Obviously I've been ripped off before when i fought for the European title [the three previous defeats in those attempts are said to be controversial] but i have the skills to do what Rendall [Munroe, Leicester's former EBU champion and a man who twice tamed Martinez] did.
"Nothing's come easy for me, both in life or inside the ropes. But this is a fight i will win," boasted the Tony Harris-trained box-fighter from Strelley.
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