Headlining a card is enough pressure on its own – and Jordan White will do so with twice the expectation on April 12. He’ll fight Jose Matias Romero atop a ProBox TV card in Hanover, Maryland, not far from his birthplace in the same state, or his residence in Washington, D.C. 

White, 18-1 (12 KOs), couldn’t be looking forward to the moment more.

“I’m true to this, I’m not new to it,” he said.

White’s nickname might draw a raised eyebrow at first glance: “Shortdog,” like a blunter cousin of Isaac Cruz’s “Pitbull.”

When explained, though, the alias makes sense. “As a kid, I was the smallest kid on the field,” said White, who now stands 5ft 7½ins. “I played middle linebacker, and I hit the hardest. My dad kind of gave me the nickname … but that kind of solidified it.

“I got that dog in me.”

White, 27, has channeled that same hard hitting as a professional boxer, recording 12 knockouts among his 18 wins. When not stopping his foes, White tends to win wide unanimous decisions, as he did in his last fight against Jason Sanchez.

“It’s definitely going to be something for the world, not for home, because everybody at home know what I’m bringing,” White asserted of his upcoming performance.

White’s probably right to be confident – since a unanimous decision loss to Adam Lopez in a six-round fight way back in 2017, he is a perfect 14-0. White was 19 years old when he met Lopez and fought with a broken left hand. “Without a broken hand, I think I would’ve won that fight, no question,” he said.

White also has an extensive amateur career in his books, which he thinks will serve him well against Matias Romero – who has fought the stiffer of the competition so far during their professional careers.

“I’m a nine-time national champion,” White said. “You know, so many fights. I fought in the Golden Gloves, made it to the championships. I’ve been to Russia, I’ve been to Italy, I’ve fought in the junior win tournament. I was the first one to win… I definitely have a very decorated amateur career. I probably had 165 fights, I maybe lost 12.”

After all that, fighting at home must feel positively quaint.