By Francisco Salazar

It was October 18, 2013 and Danny Roman suffered his second loss as a pro.

The eight round fight against Juan Reyes that night was close, but Roman took the decision loss.

Even while Roman was sulking in the dressing room after the loss that night, Roman made a vow that he would never lose again.

Not only did he make a promise to himself about never losing again, he has exceeded his own expectations and could become a world titleholder.

Roman will challenge WBA junior featherweight titleholder Shun Kubo Sunday evening at Shimazu Arena in Kyoto, Japan.

Since the close to Reyes, Roman has won his last 14 bouts. The 27-year-old Roman holds wins over former world title challenger Christian Esquivel and former contender Christopher Martin.

Roman's most notable victory occurred on January 20, when he dropped Adam Lopez twice en route to a one-sided stoppage victory after the eighth round. Roman had garnered a name for himself in Southern California, but more so with the Lopez fight.

"I would get recognized more around Los Angeles because of the Lopez fight," Roman told Boxingscene.com last week. "The fight aired on Showtime, so more people saw me and liked my performance."

Roman has sparred in recent months with Isaac Zarate and unbeaten Michael Conlan.

"I utilized four different sparring partners, but Zarate and Michael were the ones I sparred with the most," said Roman, who grew up in South Los Angeles, but resides in the L.A. suburb of Garden Grove.

Roman, who is trained by Eddie Gonzalez, will be away from the familiarity of the Crossroads Gym in Los Angeles and the Southern California cities in Ontario and Corona, where he has mostly fought over the last several years.

He faces an unbeaten fighter in Kubo (12-0, with 9 KOs), who won the WBA title in his previous fight on April 9, stopping Nehomar Cermeno in the 10th round. Kubo was born in Kyoto and will have a distinct height and reach advantage over Roman.

Roman, who began boxing when he was 11 years old, is up to the challenge.

"When I lost to Reyes, I would wonder if this was going to be normal. I just said to myself that I was going to work hard and keep getting better. I've been fighting better opposition and I learn from those fight. I really thank Thompson Boxing and (matchmaker) Alex Camponovo for helping me get to where I'm at."

"But fighting for a world title belt has been a dream of mine since when I made my pro debut. I'm ready for whatever Kubo brings. I'm very motivated for this fight. My mindset is to win."

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing