Fibroso
06-12-2015, 10:41 AM
Felix Verdejo ready to make his mark Ready or not, rising lightweight sensation Felix Verdejo, the 2014 ESPN.com prospect of the year, will be in a big spot this weekend -- the biggest of his young career.
Through his first 17 professional fights, the 2012 Puerto Rican Olympian has been close to flawless. Hardcore boxing fans and insiders alike have watched him closely and he has not disappointed.
Verdejo-NajeraWhere: Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York
When: Saturday
TV: 10 p.m. ET/PT, HBO
Whether it has been the ruthless way he has knocked out most of his opponents or the sheer delight he takes in meeting and mingling with his growing fan base -- always with a million-dollar smile on his face -- the kid has displayed everything it takes to become a major boxing star.
But those first 17 fights have not come with the kind of audience that he will have for his next bout. That will be when he makes his HBO debut against fellow prospect Ivan "Bam Bam" Najera on Saturday night (10 ET/PT) at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Although Verdejo will be appearing in the scheduled 10-round co-feature to featherweight titleholder Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) defending his belt against Miguel Marriaga (20-0, 18 KOs) in the main event, make no mistake: Verdejo is the draw.
He will be fighting on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York and the arena will be filled mostly with Puerto Rican fans coming specifically to see him. The next day, Verdejo will ride on a float in the parade, a sure sign that his fame in the Puerto Rican community continues to grow. One example of that fame came on Wednesday evening, when Puerto Rico's Carlos Beltran, the right fielder for the New York Yankees and Verdejo's favorite baseball player, paid him a visit at his hotel.
It was promoter Top Rank that developed the Puerto Rican Parade weekend as a go-to date for Miguel Cotto, an all-time great Puerto Rican fighter and reigning middleweight champion, when he was on his way up. In fact, Cotto was penciled in to fight on the eve of this year's parade too, but when he split with the company and signed with Roc Nation Sports in March, Top Rank kept the date and gave it to Verdejo. Cotto wound up defending his title against Daniel Geale last Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum believes Verdejo has what it takes to develop into every bit the star Cotto became.
"I think even bigger than Cotto because he has a better personality," Arum said. "He has more of a personality like [Puerto Rican great] Felix Trinidad. Cotto never had that kind of personality. Trinidad was always happy, smiling and looked like he was enjoying fighting and being around the fans. Verdejo is the same way. The fans get excited when they see him. He has that smile that lights up a room."
Verdejo fought on Puerto Rican Parade weekend last year in Madison Square Garden's main arena on the undercard of Cotto's middleweight championship victory against Sergio Martinez. But this is the first time that the 22-year-old Verdejo (17-0, 13 KOs) will appear in one of the featured bouts and he is excited about it, after watching Cotto and Trinidad, with whom he is close, fight in front of large New York crowds when he was growing up.
"It is an honor to be fighting on Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend in boxing's most historic building, Madison Square Garden," Verdejo said through translator Gardy Lopez of Top Rank. "I have dreamed of doing this for so long. And then on Sunday I will be riding on a float in the parade. But first I need to prove myself worthy of these honors.
"Najera is my toughest test as a professional and I have worked very hard in training camp. I am prepared to go mano a mano on Saturday night. I will be fighting not just for myself but for the pride of Puerto Ricans everywhere."
Like Verdejo, Najera (16-0, 8 KOs), 22, of San Antonio, is also largely untested as a professional but he embraced the idea of coming to fight on Verdejo's turf.
"I am ready for my moment -- my date with destiny," he said. "I know this is supposed to be Verdejo's big debut on HBO. But I am here to do what I always do -- to spoil the party. I have sacrificed so much to be ready for Saturday night but I will be dining out on this victory for years to come. June 13 will be remembered as Ivan Najera's coming out party."
Najera may be confident, but Arum, naturally, is expecting another Verdejo victory as he rolls on toward stardom.
"We at Top Rank think he's going to be a superstar and we expect to see the usual great Verdejo on Saturday night, but he's a young kid. He's barely 22. There's no rush with this kid," Arum said.
After the fight, Arum said he would huddle with Top Rank matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad "Abdul" Goodman to "get their opinion on how quickly we advance him. But he's not fighting a bum on Saturday. He's fighting an undefeated kid who's a pretty good fighter."
Besides his excitement about being featured on the eve of the Puerto Rican Parade, Verdejo is equally as pumped up to be on HBO for the first of what figures to be many times. He knows there will be a lot of people seeing him for the first time, after having most of his previous fights on Spanish-language television or untelevised undercards.
"I'm very thankful to Top Rank and I'm very happy for the big opportunity they've given to me to be on this big stage and a big network," Verdejo said. "I'm going to do my best and hope all the fans who have seen me or who are seeing me for the first time will see a good performance. I will box calmly and I hope they see a great fight from me and they enjoy my fight."
Arum made it clear that although Verdejo -- who was 106-17 as an amateur -- has reached HBO, he will stay busy on other platforms.
"I'm not going to put him on HBO all the time because I'm not going to have [HBO vice president] Peter Nelson be my matchmaker," Arum said. "When we put him on HBO, HBO has a say in who he fights because they're paying the money. We will develop him the way we want to develop him. We'll put him on HBO occasionally, for now, but we will continue to have him fight on our other outlets, UniMas, truTV and pay-per-view cards. We know how to develop stars."
If all goes well for Verdejo on Saturday, Top Rank expects him to fight twice more this year with at least one of the bouts taking place in Puerto Rico, where he is already drawing sellout crowds for fights against unknown opponents.
And if Verdejo continues to develop like so many believe he will, the constant comparisons to Cotto and Trinidad won't stop any time soon. They are comparisons Verdejo embraces.
"It's good to know the fans compare me to two great boxers who did lot of great things for my country," Verdejo said. "It keeps me motivated training in the gym so I can accomplish my goal. I want to keep developing as a fighter and I want to become a world champion."
The way things are going, that is probably not too far away
Through his first 17 professional fights, the 2012 Puerto Rican Olympian has been close to flawless. Hardcore boxing fans and insiders alike have watched him closely and he has not disappointed.
Verdejo-NajeraWhere: Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York
When: Saturday
TV: 10 p.m. ET/PT, HBO
Whether it has been the ruthless way he has knocked out most of his opponents or the sheer delight he takes in meeting and mingling with his growing fan base -- always with a million-dollar smile on his face -- the kid has displayed everything it takes to become a major boxing star.
But those first 17 fights have not come with the kind of audience that he will have for his next bout. That will be when he makes his HBO debut against fellow prospect Ivan "Bam Bam" Najera on Saturday night (10 ET/PT) at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Although Verdejo will be appearing in the scheduled 10-round co-feature to featherweight titleholder Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) defending his belt against Miguel Marriaga (20-0, 18 KOs) in the main event, make no mistake: Verdejo is the draw.
He will be fighting on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York and the arena will be filled mostly with Puerto Rican fans coming specifically to see him. The next day, Verdejo will ride on a float in the parade, a sure sign that his fame in the Puerto Rican community continues to grow. One example of that fame came on Wednesday evening, when Puerto Rico's Carlos Beltran, the right fielder for the New York Yankees and Verdejo's favorite baseball player, paid him a visit at his hotel.
It was promoter Top Rank that developed the Puerto Rican Parade weekend as a go-to date for Miguel Cotto, an all-time great Puerto Rican fighter and reigning middleweight champion, when he was on his way up. In fact, Cotto was penciled in to fight on the eve of this year's parade too, but when he split with the company and signed with Roc Nation Sports in March, Top Rank kept the date and gave it to Verdejo. Cotto wound up defending his title against Daniel Geale last Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum believes Verdejo has what it takes to develop into every bit the star Cotto became.
"I think even bigger than Cotto because he has a better personality," Arum said. "He has more of a personality like [Puerto Rican great] Felix Trinidad. Cotto never had that kind of personality. Trinidad was always happy, smiling and looked like he was enjoying fighting and being around the fans. Verdejo is the same way. The fans get excited when they see him. He has that smile that lights up a room."
Verdejo fought on Puerto Rican Parade weekend last year in Madison Square Garden's main arena on the undercard of Cotto's middleweight championship victory against Sergio Martinez. But this is the first time that the 22-year-old Verdejo (17-0, 13 KOs) will appear in one of the featured bouts and he is excited about it, after watching Cotto and Trinidad, with whom he is close, fight in front of large New York crowds when he was growing up.
"It is an honor to be fighting on Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend in boxing's most historic building, Madison Square Garden," Verdejo said through translator Gardy Lopez of Top Rank. "I have dreamed of doing this for so long. And then on Sunday I will be riding on a float in the parade. But first I need to prove myself worthy of these honors.
"Najera is my toughest test as a professional and I have worked very hard in training camp. I am prepared to go mano a mano on Saturday night. I will be fighting not just for myself but for the pride of Puerto Ricans everywhere."
Like Verdejo, Najera (16-0, 8 KOs), 22, of San Antonio, is also largely untested as a professional but he embraced the idea of coming to fight on Verdejo's turf.
"I am ready for my moment -- my date with destiny," he said. "I know this is supposed to be Verdejo's big debut on HBO. But I am here to do what I always do -- to spoil the party. I have sacrificed so much to be ready for Saturday night but I will be dining out on this victory for years to come. June 13 will be remembered as Ivan Najera's coming out party."
Najera may be confident, but Arum, naturally, is expecting another Verdejo victory as he rolls on toward stardom.
"We at Top Rank think he's going to be a superstar and we expect to see the usual great Verdejo on Saturday night, but he's a young kid. He's barely 22. There's no rush with this kid," Arum said.
After the fight, Arum said he would huddle with Top Rank matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad "Abdul" Goodman to "get their opinion on how quickly we advance him. But he's not fighting a bum on Saturday. He's fighting an undefeated kid who's a pretty good fighter."
Besides his excitement about being featured on the eve of the Puerto Rican Parade, Verdejo is equally as pumped up to be on HBO for the first of what figures to be many times. He knows there will be a lot of people seeing him for the first time, after having most of his previous fights on Spanish-language television or untelevised undercards.
"I'm very thankful to Top Rank and I'm very happy for the big opportunity they've given to me to be on this big stage and a big network," Verdejo said. "I'm going to do my best and hope all the fans who have seen me or who are seeing me for the first time will see a good performance. I will box calmly and I hope they see a great fight from me and they enjoy my fight."
Arum made it clear that although Verdejo -- who was 106-17 as an amateur -- has reached HBO, he will stay busy on other platforms.
"I'm not going to put him on HBO all the time because I'm not going to have [HBO vice president] Peter Nelson be my matchmaker," Arum said. "When we put him on HBO, HBO has a say in who he fights because they're paying the money. We will develop him the way we want to develop him. We'll put him on HBO occasionally, for now, but we will continue to have him fight on our other outlets, UniMas, truTV and pay-per-view cards. We know how to develop stars."
If all goes well for Verdejo on Saturday, Top Rank expects him to fight twice more this year with at least one of the bouts taking place in Puerto Rico, where he is already drawing sellout crowds for fights against unknown opponents.
And if Verdejo continues to develop like so many believe he will, the constant comparisons to Cotto and Trinidad won't stop any time soon. They are comparisons Verdejo embraces.
"It's good to know the fans compare me to two great boxers who did lot of great things for my country," Verdejo said. "It keeps me motivated training in the gym so I can accomplish my goal. I want to keep developing as a fighter and I want to become a world champion."
The way things are going, that is probably not too far away