Isla Verde, Carolina, PR - Showing his excellent physical condition, with less than four weeks before his first fight of the year, FECARBOX champion and WBC Latin super featherweight beltholder Alberto 'Transformer' Mercado (13-0-1, 3KO's) made a pre-weight of 141 pounds out of a required maximum of 149.5 pounds (15% over the 130 limit), for the scheduled fight on Saturday, March 4 at Coliseo Fernando 'Rube' Hernandez de Gurabo.

He will face veteran contender and world title challenger Jayson 'La Maravilla' Vélez (23-4-1, 16KO's), who weighed 148.2 pounds at his pre-weigh-in.

"We are very well prepared for this match, so I showed it on the scales," said Mercado, who is the seventh ranked contender under the WBC. "I won these titles with a lot of sacrifice and I will defend them with all my heart. Right now the mission is to keep climbing positions to reach that world title."

Mercado captured the FECARBOX title in September 2015, when he won by unanimous decision over Alvin Torres.

On March 19, 2016, Mercado was involved in a bell-to-bell war against a fiery Braulio Santos, and received a draw by the judges. Meanwhile, on September 17, he was once involved in a very intense matches and won the WBC Latin belt by defeating Braulio 'El Chavo' Rodríguez by split decision.

"I learned a lot from these two battles," said Mercado, who is handled by Margaro Cruz. "My physical condition was key and it is something that we continue to improve for the upcoming contest. This fight with Jayson Vélez will be the third consecutive where the fans will see action round after round. I have always been willing to fight with the best And these are the tests that I like, because I can show what I really have."

Mercado will have a quality opponent in Vélez, who is very tough in spite of four consecutive defeats (Ronny Ríos, Joseph Diaz, René Alvarado and Alfredo Santiago). In November 2014, Velez fought then IBF featherweight world champion Evgeny Gradovich, to a draw.