By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten #9 WBA lightweight contender Felix Verdejo (15-0, 11 KOs) made easy work of Mexican fighter Sergio Villanueva (26-5-2, 13 KOs) in stopping him with a big right hand last Saturday night at the Bahia Shrine Temple, in Orlando, Florida, USA.
Verdejo, 21, connected with a big right hook to the head that sent the 23-year-old Villanueva down face first on the canvas with his head sticking outside of the ropes. The referee then immediately halted the fight at 1:57 of the round.
Verdejo threw his right hook at the same time that Villanueva was attempting to land a right hand of his own. Verdejo’s punch got there first and knocked Villanueva out. It was a perfectly timed shot by Verdejo. After connecting with the right hand knockout shot, Verdejo had the speed to get out of the way of Villanueva’s falling body as he hit the canvas face first.
Just before the knockout, Villanueva had landed a nice left hook to the head of Verdejo. However, when Villanueva tried to follow up with a right hand, Verdejo timed him and knocked him out.
Verdejo looks like he’s the future of the lightweight division if he can continue to make weight for the class. He’s pretty big for the division, and I can see a scenario where Verdejo will soon need to move up to light welterweight to compete against the bigger guys in that weight class. Verdejo’s punching power and hand speed will make him competitive in any weight division he fights in.
At 5’9”, Verdejo has the size to grow into the welterweight division in the near future. The only thing that Verdejo needs to work on is his defense and footwork. He was too flat-footed last night, and he’s going to need to be able to move around the ring a lot better once he starts facing the better lightweights in the division.
At this point, I think Verdejo would give WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford some problems with his speed and power. I still think Crawford would beat him, but it would be a tough fight for Crawford. He’d have to eat a lot of hard shots and his chin would be really tested like never before.
Other boxing action on the card:
Gamalier Rodriguez TKO 2 Martin Cardona
Esquiva Falcao TKO 2 Austin Marcum
Christopher Diaz TKO 4 Francisco Camacho
Anthony Mercado UD 6 Esteban Villalba
Jantony Ortiz UD 4 Gilberto Mendoza
Neslan Machado TKO 1 Stephon McIntyre
Jovan Perez MD 4 Burthin Rousseau
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