By Jim Dower: Unbeaten #2 WBA, #3 WBA lightweight contender Felix “El Diamante” Verdejo (21-0, 14 KOs) won a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision win over journeyman Jose Luis Rodriguez (18-9, 12 KOs) last Saturday night at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The 22-year-old Verdejo won the fight by the scores 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92. Verdejo used his speed and power advantage to punish the badly over-matched Rodriguez with big shots to the head and body throughout the fight. The fight looked like more of an exhibition type of bout rather than a legit one because Rodriguez didn’t belong in the same ring with Verdejo, and this was a big step down from Verdejo’s last fight against William Silva last February.
The was a competitive affair with Silva giving Verdejo problems in the fight. Perhaps the problems that Siva gave Verdejo might have led to Verdejo’s promoters at Top Rank to back him off from stiff competition by putting him in with the over-matched 29-year-old Rodriguez. With the victory, Verdejo retained his WBO Latino lightweight title.
Top Rank seems to be in no hurry to put Verdejo in with a dangerous lightweight. They feel they’ve got a future star in him and they don’t want to rush him. It’s still too early to tell whether Verdejo will be a star, however. He’s looking good for the most part against the weak opposition, but it doesn’t mean he’ll be able to do the same thing against the top fighters.
You have to remember than when Thomas Dulorme was at the same point in his own career, he had people thinking he would be a huge star as well. Unfortunately, Dulorme was exposed by Luis Carlos Abregu in a 7th round knockout loss in 2012. Dulrome followed that fight with poor showings against Karim Mayfield, Hank Lundy and Terence Crawford. The red flag is already there for Verdejo after his poor showing against Silva.
Verdejo will next be fighting Jose Felix Jr. (33-1-1, 25 KOs) on June 11 on HBO from Madison Square Garden in New York.
Other boxing results on the card:
Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz UD 8 Ray Ximenez
Jean Carlos “Chapito” Rivera UD 6 Harold Reyes