By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Rocky Martinez respects Vasyl Lomachenko’s skills and accomplishments.

The WBO world super featherweight champion from Puerto Rico just doesn’t view the Ukrainian southpaw as some sort of unbeatable opponent as their HBO “Boxing After Dark” main event nears.

Martinez defeated Orlando Salido by unanimous decision in their first 12-round fight last April 11. That victory came barely a year after the rugged Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs, 1 NC) edged Lomachenko by split decision in their March 2014 bout, only the second outing of Lomachenko’s professional career.

“He’s definitely a good fighter,” Martinez said through a translator. “He has a lot of amateur experience. He was a gold-medal winner and everything like that. But this Saturday, he’s going to have a real test. He’s going to fight a real fighter. I’m pretty sure that my experience will be the difference on Saturday. I’m pretty sure that I’m going to beat him.”

Lomachenko (5-1, 3 KOs) is listed by several Internet sports books as an eyebrow-raising minus-5000 (50-1) favorite over Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) entering their 12-round fight in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Martinez obviously doesn’t think those odds reflect the type of difficult, physical fight he plans to provide Lomanchenko in the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s seventh pro bout.

“I’m aware of [the hype], and I say also that he’s a good fighter,” Martinez said. “But that’s it. I’ve prepared myself for Saturday. I know that I have the weapons and the skills and the experience and everything to beat him. I’m pretty confident of that.”

HBO’s doubleheader will begin at 10 p.m. ET with a 10-round lightweight bout between Puerto Rico’s Felix Verdejo (21-0, 14 KOs) and Mexico’s Juan Jose Martinez (25-2, 17 KOs).

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.