By Allan Fox: Felix Verdejo was reportedly injured in a motorcycle accident on Sunday in Puerto Rico. Verdejo (22-0, 15 KOs), rated #1 by the World Boxing Organization in the lightweight division, was hospitalized in San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. The 23-year-old Verdejo is in stable condition after suffering injuries to his head, face and left arm.
It’s unclear how serious the injuries are and whether they’ll keep him out of the ring. Verdejo was on course to get a title shot against unbeaten WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan this year in November.
“He’s being treated for head trauma and lacerations to the face, head and his whole left arm, and he is in stable condition,” Carl Moretti of Top Rank, Verdejo’s promoter, told ESPN.com. “They have him sedated. We are waiting for further details on his condition.”
Verdejo’s next fight was supposed to have been on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s next fight on November 5. Verdejo’s promoters at Top Rank were going to put him in the co-feature bout against the unbeaten Flanagan (29-0, 12 KOs). If Verdejo can’t fight on that card, then it would be a huge missed opportunity for him because he would have received a lot of visibility in that fight against a very high quality fighter in Flanagan.
That fight would have had a lot of drama in it, and Verdejo would have made a real name for himself had he beaten Flanagan for his WBO lightweight title.
“We were getting closer to the fight with Flanagan for Nov. 5,” Moretti said. “But at this point who knows what will happen. We are more concerned with Verdejo and his recovery.”
Verdejo last fought last June in stopping Juan Jose Martinez in the 5th round. That was a step down in competition for Verdejo, who had failed to impress in his two previous fights against Jose Luis Rodriguez and William Silva.
It might be a good thing if Verdejo doesn’t fight Flanagan right now because he would be better off taking it easy and building his way up to the fight. Verdejo needs more experience before he faces the likes of Flanagan, because this guy is perhaps the best fighter in the lightweight division right now. Verdejo really struggled against Silva and he doesn’t look like he’s nearly ready to fight someone as good as Flanagan. Top Rank will be taking a big gamble in putting Verdejo in with Flanagan now instead of slowly building him up to that level by putting him in with increasingly better opposition.